We finish up our 3 part comparison of the 2000 Ravens vs. the Ravens of today by taking a look at the Coaching staffs and declaring which team we think is better overall.

Links to the previous two posts can be found here:

http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com/2010/10/2000-ravens-vs-2010-ravens-pt-2.html
http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com/2010/10/2000-ravens-vs-2010-ravens-pt-1.html

2000 Coaches:
Head Coach: Brian Billick
DC: Marvin Lewis
OC/ QB Coach: Matt Cavanaugh
Assist HC/ DB Coach: Steve Shafer
Def Assist Coach: Mike Smith
Defensive Line Coach: Rex Ryan
LB Coach: Jack Del Rio
Secondary Coach: Donnie Henderson
ST Assistant: Bennie Thompson
TE Coach: Wade Harman
WR Coach: Milt Jackson
RB Coach: Matt Simon
OL Coach: Jim Colletto
ST Coach: Russ Parnell

2010 Coaches:
Head Coach: John Harbaugh
DC: Greg Mattison
OC: Cam Cameron
Asst. HC / Special Teams Coordinator: Jerry Rosburg
Def. Asst / Secondary: Roy Anderson
DL Coach: Clarence Brooks
TE Coach: Wade Harman
WR Coach: Jim Hostler
RB Coach: Wilbert Montgomery
OL Coach: John Matsko
QB Coach: Jim Zorn
Sr. Offensive Asst: Al Saunders

I am not qualified to give any real break-down of the assistant position coaches. Any analysis from me on that topic would be a pure guesstimate. What I do note is that Marvin Lewis, Rex Ryan, Jack Del Rio, and Mike Smith would all become Head Coaches in the NFL. Donnie Henderson became a Defensive Coordinator. Even when accounting for the experience of Cameron, Zorn, and Saunders I think that gives the 2000 staff a pretty strong edge.

I think even Mattison’s family would acknowledge that Lewis gets the edge at Defensive Coordinator.

Plenty of people are down on Cameron (myself, I think his offensive can be a bit ‘cute’), but I do think he is superior to Cavanaugh. One thing I’ll credit Cavanaugh for though is that his teams always had a good rushing offense.

To even call this even, you would have to give Harbaugh a considerable edge over Billick. I am not sure how one could make that claim. Billick was 80-64 in the regular-season, 5-3 in the post-season. Harbaugh inherited a team that was injury-riddled and underachieved the year prior. To his credit he took them to the AFC Championship game the following year. He runs a disciplined Training Camp, and the Ravens have typically played disciplined during his tenure. 3 Playoff victories (all on the road) in two-seasons is obviously the definition of successful. Harbaugh is currently 24-14 in the regular-season, and 3-2 in the post-season.

To compare Billick and Harbaugh equally, you have to see Harbaugh handle further adversity. Billick’s best coaching job was two years after the Super Bowl victory, when he took a gutted roster and made that team competitive. Harbaugh has the attention of his locker-room now, but his message is still relatively new. How does it play in Year 5, Year 6? Even despite the success of the team these past two-years, you hear plenty of rumbles of unhappy players. It will be interesting to see what happens if/when Harbaugh has a team that does not meet expectations.

I personally would lean towards Billick being better, but I understand those that feel that way about Harbaugh. They both have their strengths. What you can not say is that either one is vastly superior to the other. If you can not say that Harbaugh wins in a landslide, the 2000 staff has to get the win here.

EDGE: 2000

In conclusion we ranked the units as following:

QB: 2010
RB: 2000
FB: 2010
WR: 2010
TE: Even
OL: 2010
DL: 2000
LB: 2000
Secondary: 2010
ST: 2000
Coaches: 2000

Breaking it down that is 5 wins for each side with a tie. Pretty much as even as you can get. I think you can make a reasonable case for either side, but I lean towards the 2000 roster. The 2010 team would have zero chance of running against the 2000 team. That is not disrespecting Rice, it is just an opinion born from watching what that Ravens team did to opposing RB’s. (Check out the AFC Central RB’s from that year, plenty of talent).

Knowing that, Cameron would utilize his 3 WR sets, and go after the 2000 Ravens through the air. Boldin and McAlister would be a battle. Mason and Housmandzadeh would have success against Starks, and Bailey/Poindexter/Trapp. More passing from the 2010 Ravens, would mean more pass-blocking, and I think the current line would have trouble dealing with McCrary and Boulware.

If Peyton Hillis can run up the middle on this Ravens team, they would likely have trouble stopping Jamal Lewis in Lewis’ rookie year. It would not be enough for Ngata to beat the 2000 Ravens interior starters, he would need to dominate that match-up. It is fair to ask where the 2000 Ravens would go, if Sharpe was taken away as a weapon.

You are probably looking at a close game well into the 4th Quarter. Those type of games often come down to Special Teams. Again, with Lewis and Stover the 2000 team gets the edge.

I’m partial to the 2000 roster, but the 2010 team has all the talent necessary to write their own chapter of history. Perhaps 10 years from now, we will be comparing the 2010 Super Bowl Ravens to an up-start 2020 Ravens team?

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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