‘Elite’ QB Jackson a draw for new OC
Coordinator Todd Monken back in NFL after Georgia stint
It began with a call from John Harbaugh’s sister, Joani.
“You’ve got to talk to Todd Monken,” she told her brother, who was on the hunt for an offensive coordinator after the Ravens parted ways with Greg Roman.
She and her husband, Tom Crean, had bonded with Monken and his wife, Terri, when Crean was coaching basketball at Georgia, the same place where Monken designed national championship-winning offenses in 2021 and 2022.
Harbaugh listened, and through 21 interviews with 14 candidates, his mind remained fixed on Monken. “How extensive his knowledge is, how broad his knowledge is, how adaptable he is, how versatile he is,” Harbaugh said Tuesday when he introduced Monken, who was hired last week, as the team’s next offensive coordinator. “You talk to different people around Todd, players especially but also coaches, he’s just got a great way with players. … I know our players are going to love him.”
Monken did not have to leave Georgia, where he was one of the best — and best compensated — assistant coaches in the country. But he wanted another shot at the NFL after his previous tenures as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cleveland Browns ended on someone else’s terms. And he wanted that shot to be with a winning organization led by a secure head coach, the same conditions under which he thrived at Georgia.
“I think first, it was the challenge, to do it against the best in the world,” Monken said. “I think everybody aspires to have that challenge. And if I was going to do it, it was going to be somewhere that was parallel to Georgia.”
Questions turned quickly to the player who might, or might not, be the centerpiece of Monken’s efforts in Baltimore. No, Monken has not spoken with quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has yet to reach a long-term extension with the Ravens and could hit free agency next month if the team does not use the franchise tag to