OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Zach Orr wants his defense to play with 'violence, physicality and organized chaos'. Just like he used to as a Ravens linebacker.
"We are going to see guys flying around, hitting people, playing together, playing with energy, playing with passion and knowing what they are doing," he said.
Orr was officially introduced as Ravens defensive coordinator on Tuesday. He replaces Mike Macdonald who left last week to become the new head coach in Seattle. Macdonald wanted Orr on his Seahawks staff. Orr also interviewed for the defensive coordinator job in Green Bay. But in the end he couldn’t pass up the promotion from head coach John Harbaugh.
"I bleed purple and black, man," he said to WMAR-2 Sports Reporter Shawn Stepner. "The Ravens organization means something to me. It’s going to be tough for me to leave this place if I ever do. When I got presented the opportunity I got presented it was a no-brainer in my eyes."
It has been a meteoric rise through the coaching ranks for Orr. He started as a coaching and personnel assistant for Baltimore in 2017 and 2018. He then spent two years as a defensive coaching analyst. After coaching outside linebackers in Jacksonville for a year he came back to the Ravens to coach the inside linebackers for the last two seasons.
Now, at 31 years old, he is the second-youngest defensive coordinator in the NFL.
"I’m just going to be composed and putting my guys in the best position to make plays. That’s what I’m going to be looking at. How can I put the guys, what they do best, put them in position to do that?"
He got the early start in coaching because his playing career was cut short. Following an All-Pro 2016 season, his third as a pro (all spent with the Ravens), the team's medical staff discovered Orr had a congenital spine/neck condition. It forced him to retire.
"There ain’t going to be too many things, at least with sports, that’s going to be as tough as what I had to deal with when I had to retire and everything at such a young age and so quickly," said Orr. "It makes you not want to take anything for granted."
You better believe Orr’s players know how he feels. Linebacker Roquan Smith said in a statement, “While it’s unfortunate that his career was cut short due to an injury, I feel like he carries that passion over to the game of football and coaching. You don’t know which day will be your last, so you have to give everything you have while you have it.”
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
