Yesterday it was announced that Greg Mattison would be leaving the Baltimore Ravens to become the Defensive Coordinator at the University of Michigan, and that Chuck Pagano would receive the promotion from Secondary Coach to Coordinator.

On message boards and on the radio, I see and hear people already giving their opinions. Some are for it, some are against it. Myself, I guess I am mostly ambivalent.

I was not a huge fan of Mattison as the Coordinator, and I have no problem with a change being made. When I review Mattison, I think the leading Positive and Negative arguments for his Coaching this year are:

Positives:
1) Defense ranked 10th overall, and most importantly the points per game allowed was among the best in the league.

2) Mattison has to get credit for his half-time adjustments, which allowed the Ravens to thrive in the 3rd Quarter of games all year.

Negatives:
1)
I thought the Defense needed to be more aggressive all season, and like nearly everyone else in Baltimore I was irritated with the decision to rush just 3 with Pittsburgh facing 3rd down on their final Offensive Drive this past Saturday.

2) On 8 different occasions during this year, the Ravens blew a 4th Quarter lead. The fact that it continued to happen with regularity was an issue with Coaching.

I have no problem with a change being made to replace Mattison, but I am overall ambivalent with the decision to promote Pagano. I like that a number of players have spoken out publicly and privately giving their support, and that they have also stated they believe Pagano might prove to be more aggressive. I also like that Pagano has gotten to work with both Ryan and Mattison.

Still, the current team is built to win now. That will remain true even after whatever departures occur this off-season. With the players that remain, the immediate window is the next year or two. Mattison went through an adjustment as a first-time NFL Def Coordinator. That was coming off stays at Florida, and Notre Dame as Def Coordinator.

Pagano was a Def Coordinator at UNLV in ’91, and at UNC in ’07. While he has had the experience of working under both Ryan, and Mattison; it should be safe to assume there will also be an adjustment for Pagano as he becomes the Coordinator.

Lastly, I would like to go back to when Mattison was hired. At that time, Harbaugh stated:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3862148
“Greg is a guy that I have full trust and belief in, and not just because of his track record,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He’s been successful at every stop, but the job he did this year with our guys, I think he established himself as a premier coach in the NFL. If you talk to our players, they’ll tell you the same thing.”

Mattison was also quoted, stating:
“I believe strongly that you have to be aggressive, that you have to be an attacking defense,” Mattison said. “Obviously that’s been the M.O. of the defense here for years. In looking at what we do defensively, we don’t plan on changing a great deal. It’s not broken by any means.”

You can bet the quotes at the Pagano Press Conference will be similar.
Pagano will talk about being aggressive, playing ‘Ravens’ football. It remains to be seen what that will actually mean.

I am not ‘down’ on the move. It might prove to be great. I do question if going to another 1st time Coordinator makes sense with the current roster. Ultimately we will see what happens results wise on the field.

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.

X