Mattison Looks To Continue Ravens' Defensive Dominance

One constant for the Baltimore Ravens during the past decade has been great defense – no matter who the coordinator was. The Ravens have thrived under Marvin Lewis, Mike Nolan and Rex Ryan, all of whom earned head coaching gigs because of their success in Baltimore. This season sees the debut of Greg Mattison as the next schemer-in-chief in Baltimore.

Mattison has paid his dues, coaching for 31 years at the college level, including 10 as a defensive coordinator at powerhouses Florida, Michigan and Notre Dame. The beneficiaries of his coaching include NFL starts such as Justin Tuck of the New York Giants and John Offerdahl, who was a Pro Bowl linebacker with the Miami Dolphins for many years.

For Mattison, the task will not be to reinvent the Ravens’ defense, but to continue its success by making sure that the playbook takes advantage of individual strengths. Don’t look for any major changes on the surface, though there may be more subtle variations that are more difficult to detect.

"There will be a lot of similarities to what we've run in the past," Mattison told the Baltimore Sun. "I think the players will see any changes that have been made and why we made them. Things haven't changed much; we're just going to try to improve what we do."

"I think Greg is an old-school, fundamental, detail-oriented kind of a coach," Harbaugh told the Sun. "I think he's going to put guys in position from a fundamental standpoint to do things that they do well one-on-one."

For his part, Mattison looks forward to working with some of the best in the NFL. "I'm coaching Ray Lewis, and Ray is the greatest player I've ever had the opportunity to coach. He listens to every word you say, does everything you ask him to do."

"There's a heightened sense of excitement," he said. "You get to put your stamp on this defense. But the biggest thing is this defense is all about the players. It's the players' defense. The way they play, the tradition here. Our job is to continue that."