The Baltimore Ravens made a switch at defensive coordinator very early on in the 2022 offseason, parting ways with Don Martindale and hiring former University of Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald in his place. It’s a hire that many are excited about, especially the organization.
Macdonald had his introductory press conference with the media on Wednesday, and answered many different questions about both his time at Michigan, what it’s like to return to Baltimore and what he thinks his defense can become. He also shared his vision for what his defense with the Ravens could look like, talking about how the aggressiveness that the unit has shown over the years won’t go away.
“The aggressiveness – absolutely – is going to carry over, but I think you’ve got to look through the lens [of], ‘What does aggressiveness actually mean?’ It’s about keeping the offense off balance and where they’re not really believing what they’re seeing on a down-to-down basis. So, a lot of times, that will come with the schemed-up pressure – that’ll happen. A lot of times it could be a fake pressure, it could look like this coverage and play like another one. You’re changing the stress points of the zones and things like that and just trying to create doubt at all times. You want to be the one pushing the envelope, rather than the other way around. So, that aggressiveness, that was something that … That’s a principle of the Ravens organization – is aggressiveness.”
Macdonald also talked about how there will be things that are carried over from Martindale’s defensive schemes and principles.
“There’s a lot of carryover from ‘Wink’ [former Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale], because we were together – like how [head coach] John [Harbaugh] describes – when we tried to build it in 2018. So, we see a lot of things the same. One thing that’s definitely going to carry over that ‘Wink’ did that I learned that I used at Michigan was overcommunicating the situations with the players. It’s kind of like when you have a rookie in training camp – not that I ever did this – it’s like, ‘Hey man, you’ve got this coming up. You ready for this call?’ And what do you know, the guy executed it well. So, it’s the same thing in the game; if you can go over the situation with the guys, let them know what you’re going to call in certain situations, and they’re on the same page, you find the execution is better. So, just the overcommunication and the situational, playing the game before it happens, is something that will definitely carry over.”
Macdonald had plenty of success as a play caller at Michigan, and will look to translate that over to Baltimore. He will have plenty of talented playmakers to work with, and it seems like he will fit in just fine with what the Ravens expect out of their defense.
