John Harbaugh may have lost his job this year, but he’s overseen the development of several successful NFL coaches. Most notably, the newest Super Bowl winning head coach Mike Macdonald of the Seattle Seahawks.
In a recent interview with WBAL radio, Harbaugh was asked about a few of his former coaches. Jesse Minter, his replacement as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, worked under Harbaugh from 2017-2020.
His responses – including those about new Seahawks linebackers coach Zachary Orr, were intriguing. And grumpy.
After claiming to be right about identifying the skillsets of both Macdonald and Minter, Harbaugh said “I’ll be proven right about Zach Orr too. You’ll see. I’m proud of all those guys.” He then was asked why Orr didn’t come to New York to be defensive coordinator of the Giants. Harbaugh said it was a timing issue:
Sometimes, it’s time to change, and Zach and I have had those conversations. We both felt it would be best for him, you know? [It would be] best for him to go get the next opportunity to grow in a different way. So, he gets a chance to grow in a different way, and I think it’s going to be great for him to get a chance to do that, and it’s going to be positive. So, there’s your answer to your criticism or whatever it might be.
Harbaugh’s going to be wonderful in New York.
Orr is only 33 and has been a coach just three years prior to his DC promotion in Baltimore. At that time, it felt like the move might have been partially to block Macdonald from taking him to Seattle with him. Now the two are reunited, and I would agree with the assessment that he wasn’t ready to try to replicate the NFL’s defensive genius just yet.
So back to linebackers it is, and a chance for Orr to start fresh under the guy Ravens fans wish was still in Baltimore.