Following Sunday’s 16-10 loss to Washington, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said his team’s failure to find continuity on offense had been the story of the first five games of the season. Monday Harbaugh turned the page to a new chapter. He fired offensive coordinator Marc Trestman and promoted quarterbacks coach Marty Mornhinweg to replace him.
“We need to ramp things up,” said Harbaugh. “We need to do some things differently. We need to look at defenses differently. Whatever those things are, we need be different than we’ve been.”
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Trestman leaves Baltimore after a total of 21 games. His playcalling was underwhelming and under fire this season.
“It’s less about the record. It’s less about anything that you see, as far as playcalling or anything that specifically. It’s more about direction,” said Harbaugh. “We need to get better. I didn’t feel in my gut, that going the way we were going, it was going to change.”
Mornhinweg is a former head coach of the Lions and offensive coordinator of the Eagles and Jets. He becomes the Ravens’ fifth offensive coordinator over the last five seasons.
“He fits right in. I know there’ll be some things that he’ll tweak, but the basic system is not going to change,” said Harbaugh. “The way we adjust some routes, maybe. Or the way we organize our protections or some of our play-action passes, that’s all the stuff that Marty’s gotta do the way he believes it should be done.”
This isn’t unfamiliar territory for Harbaugh. He actually changed offensive coordinators during the 2012 season, before the Ravens went on to win the Super Bowl.
Harbaugh also said he made the decision to fire Trestman after the loss to Washington. He did not consult with quarterback Joe Flacco.
Baltimore (3-2) visits the New York Giants (2-3) on Sunday.
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