The Baltimore Ravens coaching staff has seen a bit of change from last year. Former defensive coordinator Mike McDonald is now the Seattle Seahawks head coach and last year’s secondary coach Dennard Wilson is now the Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator. Those two were replaced by former Ravens linebacker Zach Orr and Doug Mallory who comes to Baltimore after spending the last three seasons as a defensive assistant for the University of Michigan.
Mallory previously spent six years in the NFL as a defensive assistant with the Atlanta Falcons. He’s excited about being back in the NFL. Having seen both levels of play, Mallory is well-versed in the differences.
“[It’s] probably speed and length. I think [that] a lot of times, in college, you may have a bigger receiver that doesn’t have elite speed,” Mallory explained. “You may have a smaller receiver who does have speed. I think at this level, you’re seeing bigger, physical wide receivers. I think sometimes that is an adjustment for a young corner coming in. I think just the size [and] speed are one of the biggest things. I think, too, if you give up a pass here at this level, you can’t. I think at the college level, there are times you can say, ‘Yes, he may complete that. It’s away from his leverage.’ At this level, it’s just more detailed, and you’ve got to be productive at this level.”
Filling the void left by former secondary coach Dennard Wilson is a tall order for Mallory. The Ravens allowed 193.1 passing yards per game last season under Wilson. That’s the ninth-best total. Only the Houston Texans who gave up 17 passing touchdowns had a lower amount than the 18 allowed by Baltimore.
“They did a lot of great things, but there are always areas that need improvement. We made a point of emphasis on that, really, the first couple of weeks on the job. Some of the things [that] we were doing was going back and evaluating all the cutups and just seeing where we could do things better,” Mallory explained.
Another part of Mallory’s excitement includes working with Ravens coach John Harbaugh. Mallory spent time previously working with John’s brother Jim when he was in Michigan. Jim has now moved on to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Two things Mallory will have in his favor are another year of experience from safety Kyle Hamilton and the addition of first-round pick Nate Wiggins.
Hamilton has developed into one of the NFL’s best safeties. Mallory said he’s been familiar with Hamilton since his freshman year at Notre Dame. He was impressed with Hamilton’s play then and is extremely impressed with what he sees now that he’s coaching him.
“He’s got great length,” Mallory said of Wiggins. “It’s just hard to find corners that have that type of length and that can run like he runs. But he has great balance, body control, change of direction. He’s been real sticky in coverage, and there are certainly a lot of things.”
The Ravens’ defense finished as the top team in points allowed per game last season. Some of their coaches ascended to higher positions with other teams as a result. Now it’s up to coaches like Mallory to keep the train moving in the right direction.