The Super Bowl-winning play caller is returning to the staff to provide guidance to one of his former players turned coach.
After a rocky start to his tenure as the replacement to Mike Macdonald as the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator, first-year play-caller Zach Orr is reportedly enlisting the experience and expertise of the coach who called the defense during his brief playing career in Charm City.
According to a report from The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec that was later confirmed by head coach John Harbaugh, the Ravens are reuniting with former defensive play-caller and designer Dean Pees who is joining Orr’s staff in a senior advisory role.
“He’s a guy who knows me as a person, knows the system, knows the culture here,” Orr said. “He’s a Raven.”
The 75-year-old hasn’t been able to stay retired for long as he was most recently the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive coordinator from 2021-2022 before stepping away from the game for the 2023 season. He was the Tennessee Titans’ coordinator from 2018 to 2019 before taking the 2020 season off. During his eight-year stint in Baltimore from 2010-2017, he coached several top units and helped the Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII in his first year calling plays after spending two seasons coaching linebackers.
Pees oversaw Orr’s development and emergence into an All Pro defender before he was forced to medically retire following such a promising start to his career. Orr told Zrebiec that the two remained in contact through a rough start to the season and he extended an offer for him to serve on his staff.
“I said, ‘Hey, it would be good if you wanted to come up here and be an advisor, be another set of eyes, just be a help to us,’” Orr said. “Ultimately, all I care about is us performing the best we can to help us win. If you get a guy I’m real close with and a guy who knows the culture and is a great football mind, and he’s down for it, to me, it’s a no brainer.”
Through the first five games of the 2024 regular season, the Ravens rank 19th in total defense thanks in large part to their top-ranked rush defense (60.4) but their overall ranking is being heavily weighed down by their 31st in pass defense (280.2). Orr’s unit is coming off a game in which it got carved up through the air by Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow to the tune of 392 passing yards, five touchdowns and 38 points. Getting better at preventing opposing offenses from moving the ball up and down the field on them in the passing game will be paramount to achieving any aspirations they have of winning a championship.
After Wednesday’s practice, Harbaugh confirmed the addition and shared his thoughts on how beneficial Pees’ presence will be for the entire team and staff but especially Orr who is one of the youngest play-callers from any of the three phases of the game in the league.
“I’m really excited about it,” Harbaugh said. “Zach and I talked about that. Zach has been in touch with Dean really all the time. It’s a good sounding board and mentor for Zach and I know they’re very close. Dean and I go back, as you guys know, a long long way and his football knowledge and his ability to just put an eye on things and be a great sounding board and a backup for everybody is super good. I’m glad he is here, its good to see his face out here and he can make us better so I’m excited about that.”
