Frazier family set to clash in Bills-Ravens playoff matchup
BUFFALO — Editor’s note: Leading up to the Ravens-Bills divisional-round matchup Saturday night, The Baltimore Sun will be sharing bonus coverage from our colleagues at The Buffalo News.
No matter what happens Saturday, a member of the Frazier family is going to the AFC championship game.
That’s made for an unusual week for Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who will be going up against the team that employs his son. Corey Frazier works as a pro scout in the Ravens’ front office.
It’s not the first time father and son have been on opposite sides after the two teams met last year in the regular season, but the stakes are undeniably raised this time.
“I asked his mom, ‘So who you going to be rooting for this time?’ “Leslie said in an interview this week with The Buffalo News. “We’ve had some laughs about it, but it’s really weird in a lot of ways because I’m always pulling for him and the Ravens when we’re not playing. I always want him to have success and I have so much respect for John Harbaugh, but this week, it’s all about the Buffalo Bills and us having success.”
Corey was pretty sure he knew which corner his mom, Gale, would be in Saturday.
“I think she’s definitely going to be rooting for the Bills,” he said. “As long as the checks are still coming from the Buffalo Bills, I think that’s where her loyalties will lie.”
Corey has been with the Ravens since 2017, starting as a player personnel assistant. He was promoted to pro scout following the 2019 NFL draft. In his various roles, he’s assessed free agent prospects and prepared advance scouting reports on upcoming opponents.
Leslie Frazier was the Ravens’ secondary coach in 2016, and he and Harbaugh were previously members of Andy
Reid’s staff — along with Bills coach Sean McDermott — with the Philadelphia Eagles.
In a normal week, Leslie and the youngest of his three sons talk daily, with most of those conversations centering on their jobs. This, though, is not a normal week.
“It’s rare that we don’t talk during the week — other than this week,” Leslie said.
“We usually talk a lot about what he’s dealing with on his side of the ball as well as what I’m dealing with from a coaching standpoint, and just trying to help him along the way in things that I’ve seen and observed from a scouting standpoint. Sometimes he’ll have some references versus some of the teams that we might be playing that week. We have conversations almost every day about something football related. … This week, we’ve kept those to a minimum and really stayed away from the football talk.”
After being an all-state selection and winning a state championship in Minnesota in high school, Corey played safety at Rice University. He suffered a torn ACL early in his senior year that cut short his playing career, but graduated in 2013 with a degree in economics.
“I went to Rice University for the academics and I got a decent major with econ,” he said. “I did all that hard work, but I always kind of knew I probably was going to work in football, just because that’s just something I was passionate about and (his dad is) obviously the person I’ve looked up to, just growing up. I always kind of knew I’d get into football in some aspect even though it is a volatile game as far as a profession goes. We have moved around quite a bit, but our relationship has become such a close bond because of it.”
With his academic background, Corey appreciated the business side of football, which led to him pursuing a role in the front office as opposed to coaching. Leslie supported Corey’s dream — while also trying to clue him in on the grind of professional football.
“His mom, my wife, just thought that he would pursue something in the academic world, but he had that urge to want to get into sports,” Leslie said. “As we were having those discussions, and talking about coaching versus scouting or some other field in sports, it just came back to the scouting part of it. I told him, ‘If you get into this business, it’s a tough, tough business.’
“You can be personally doing really, really well, but if the team’s not doing well, it can affect you. You can be moving around. I tried to give him all the pros and cons about professional sports and football in particular and let him make the final decision. He chose to stay with it. He wanted to pursue it and this is where it’s led to.”
Before starting his coaching career, Leslie started as a defensive back on the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears’ defense that won a Super Bowl. In addition to his time with the Bills, he has been with six other NFL franchises, including time as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings and defensive coordinator for the Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“He’s the reason that I’m even interested in football, just being around him, going to training camps, in and out of locker rooms, kind of just hanging by his side,” Corey said. “Just the doors that he’s been able to open for me and getting me around certain people and trying to soak up their knowledge and observe how they lead, I mean, he’s had every bit of influence on my football career up until this point.
After getting hurt in his final season, Corey stayed at Rice working in a quality control role. He got his start in the NFL as an intern with the Denver Broncos in their scouting department in 2015. He then spent the 2016 season back at the college level, working with Vanderbilt University as an advance scout before joining the Ravens the following year.
His steady climb up the career ladder has left his dad beaming.
“It makes me so proud when I hear other people talk about Corey and what he’s doing and how he’s doing things — how he presents himself when he’s in charge of meetings and giving his presentations,” Leslie said. “As a parent, to hear some of those things and see the development and growth — I’m so proud of him. … Just to see his growth over time and to hear what he’s doing now and how much they respect him in Baltimore, just tremendous growth and just very proud of him.”
Corey, likewise, has watched the success his father has had in Buffalo with pride.
“I’m extremely proud of what he’s been able to do, especially the maturation with a lot of those young players like Tremaine (Edmunds) and (Matt) Milano — being able to develop those guys and consistently put out a competitive defense, a defense that can help them win games and get to the playoffs,” he said. “Not everybody is a first- or second-round pick on that roster, so for him to continue to develop those young players, it’s definitely fun to watch from afar.”
At least for Saturday, though, Corey hopes that comes to an end.
“Hopefully we can get you guys this week,” he said.