The Ravens announced a flurry of moves today as they continue to remake their staff this offseason. The biggest new name in Baltimore is former college head coach Willie Taggart, who will take over as the Ravens new running backs coach.
This will be Taggart’s first NFL job. To start his extensive college coaching career, Taggart coached quarterbacks, wide receivers, and served as a co-offensive coordinator over eight years with the Hilltoppers. After a three-year stint as Jim Harbaugh‘s running backs coach at Stanford, Taggart returned to Western Kentucky for his first head coaching gig.
He quickly elevated through college head coaching jobs. After three years at Western Kentucky, Taggart accepted a head coaching position at South Florida. Four years with the Bulls and Taggart was offered the head coach job at Oregon. After only one year with the Ducks, Taggart left Eugene to become head coach at Florida State. After a rough first season and disappointing start to his second year at the helm, Taggart was fired mid-season and replaced Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic the following year. Taggart was let go last November after an overtime loss to his alma mater and former team, Western Kentucky. While the results were ultimately mixed, Taggart is notable for being the first African-American head coach at all five universities.
Taggart played for Jack Harbaugh when he was a quarterback at Western Kentucky in the late 1990s, he coached under Jim in the late 2000’s at Stanford, and he will now have an opportunity to play under John Harbaugh in Baltimore. Running back Gus Edwards may be in danger as a potential cap casualty next season, but if he’s still around in 2023, Taggart will have a strong 1-2 punch in J.K. Dobbins and Edwards to work with. He’ll have four-time Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard in the room, as well.
Here is a breakdown of the other moves made to the Ravens’ staff today:
- With former quarterbacks coach James Urban reportedly not returning in the same role, the Ravens have elected to move wide receivers coach Tee Martin to quarterbacks coach. The former college offensive and passing game coordinator will now be in charge of the continued development of MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. Martin’s extensive experience coaching the passing game should help as the Ravens move on from former offensive coordinator Greg Roman‘s run-heavy attack.
- The Ravens will be losing a position coach in all the commotion. According to Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports, safeties coach D’Anton Lynn will be leaving Baltimore for the defensive coordinator position at UCLA. Lynn was in his second year on the job with the Ravens after earning his first position coaching gig in Houston. The coordinator job is an enticing opportunity as Lynn continues to climb the coaching ladder.
- Lastly, Harbaugh announced that the organization is parting ways with head strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders. Saunders was previously suspended back in 2020 due to his role in a brutal COVID-19 outbreak within the team midseason. Saunders will be replaced by Scott Elliott who has been with the team for four seasons. Along with Elliott, strength and conditioning coaches Anthony Watson, Ron Shrift, and Kaelyn Buskey will all be retained.