Getty John Harbaugh and his Ravens assistants.
The Baltimore Ravens figured to lose multiple assistants this offseason, but perhaps stunningly, the coaching carousel has been kind to continuity for the team.
By the start of last week, the Ravens learned that neither major coordinator in Greg Roman or Wink Martindale would be getting another job. Near the end of the week, they also learned that a pair of position coaches were committed to them for 2020 and beyond.
The Philadelphia Eagles were interested in Baltimore tight ends coach Bobby Engram and quarterbacks coach James Urban to interview for their offensive coordinator post. Each were granted the chance to interview by the team, but in the end, both backed out to stick with the Ravens.
#Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the Eagles requested to interview TEs coach Bobby Engram and QBs coach James Urban and Baltimore granted the request, but both coaches pulled out and plan to stay with the Ravens.
Engram, a former wide receiver in the league, has been coaching with the Ravens since 2014. He started as a wideout coach and transitioned to a tight ends coach after having a sterling NFL career in which he went for 7,751 yards and 35 touchdowns from 1996-2009.
In terms of Urban, the decision is a bit more stunning because he has experience working with Philadelphia from 2004-2008 as an assistant head coach as well as quarterbacks coach.
Seemingly, both coaches realized the jobs they had with the Ravens were simply too good to leave, and they might be thinking about that with an eye on 2020 as well considering where the Ravens could finish.
Ravens 2020 Opponents Revealed
Next season is already on the horizon, and a look at what the Baltimore schedule looks like for 2020 has already been revealed. Here’s a quick glance at the breakdown for the Ravens:
For those who missed it earlier, here are the Ravens’ 2020 opponents …
Home: Jaguars, Titans, Cowboys, Giants, Chiefs, Bengals, Browns and Steelers
Away: Redskins, Eagles, Colts, Texans, Patriots, Bengals, Browns and Steelers
Dates and times will be announced in April.
In addition to their usual games against the rivals of the AFC North, the Ravens will play against the NFC East and AFC South. The difficulty will be a first place schedule as a result of how Baltimore finished in 2019.
Obviously, the Ravens will have to win big in order to match what they were able to do during this past regular season, but given how things ended in the playoffs, it’s fair to say most people will only care about getting to the playoffs and what happens there moving forward.
Ravens Already High in 2021 Super Bowl Odds
A look at some very early odds was revealed by Caesars on this past week, and perhaps surprisingly, the Ravens were high on the list in spite of their frustrating finish to 2020. As a whole, the Ravens have the second best odds to take home the Lombardi Trophy at 7-1 a year from now.
Here’s a look at some of the early odds for next season:
Next year’s Super Bowl odds released from @CaesarsEnt today:
Chiefs 6-1
Ravens 7-1
49ers 8-1
Saints 11-1
Patriots 14-1
Steelers 15-1
Cowboys, Packers 18-1
Seahawks 22-1
Browns, Eagles, Rams, Vikings 25-1
At this point, of course, very little of this matters considering the current Super Bowl hasn’t even been decided, the offseason hasn’t taken place and neither has the draft. Little is known about what shape teams will take moving forward and what will play out next year in terms of injuries or other pitfalls that take place.
For now, though, Las Vegas isn’t exactly betting on the stench of failure hanging over the Ravens for very long. That could be a big reason these coaches made the choice to stay in the end.
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Pair of Ravens Coaches Reject Eagles to Stay With Baltimore