Success? Monken brings it.
New offensive coordinator arrives after to back-to-back titles with Georgia
The Georgia Bulldogs won two consecutive national championships with a 5-foot-11 former walk-on at quarterback. The offensive mind guiding Stetson Bennett through that double gantlet belonged to a well-traveled coach named Todd Monken.
Now, the Ravens hope Monken will help coax championship-winning performances out of a far more gifted quarterback, Lamar Jackson. They’re hiring Monken, a 57-year-old Illinois native who has led two NFL offenses in addition to his expansive college work, to be their next offensive coordinator.
“Todd’s leadership and coaching acumen were evident from the beginning,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. “He has a proven track record for designing and teaching offensive systems that allow players to succeed at the highest level. We’re excited to get to work and begin building an offense that will help us compete for championships.”
Monken’s introduction will be complicated by the uncertainty around Jackson, who could become a free agent in March if the Ravens do not sign him to a lucrative extension or use the franchise tag to keep him in Baltimore. Monken might not know for months if he’s revamping the team’s offense for Jackson or for another quarterback.
Harbaugh said at the beginning of his search that Jackson’s input would factor into the hire: “I did ask Lamar about it, and he will be involved in it. I’ll keep him abreast to what’s going on, and I’m sure he’ll have some input along the way, but I know his focus — like he told me — is going to be on getting himself ready and getting his guys ready for next season.”
Monken will come to the Ravens following one of the most successful runs in recent college football history.
He will replace Greg Roman, who parted ways with the Ravens last month after his offense lost steam in the second half of the season for a second straight year. Roman’s four years as coordinator began with a bang,
when his offense set a single-season rushing record and Jackson won NFL Most Valuable Player honors in 2019. But the Ravens did not score more than a single touchdown in any of their last six regular-season games in 2022 with Jackson sidelined by a knee injury.
Monken will be Harbaugh’s seventh offensive coordinator. As promised, the Ravens searched far and wide for Roman’s successor, with Harbaugh interviewing 14 candidates, many of them with recent experience as quarterbacks coaches or pass-game designers. Harbaugh has said he does not want the team’s offensive identity to change and that he’d like to retain some of the concepts that gave the Ravens the league’s most productive rushing attack under Roman.
Monken will be charged with reviving a passing game that jumped to a hot start in 2022 but ranked 28th in Football Outsiders’
DVOA over the second half of the season. At Georgia, Monken’s offense achieved the sort of balance Harbaugh yearns for, averaging 295.8 yards per game through the air and 205.8 on the ground last season on the way to a 15-0 record.