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Will the Ravens Loss of Steve Spagnuolo Haunt Them in 2015?

By William Brittain

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It is no secret that the Ravens suffered some pretty big losses this offseason, though for the most part Ozzie Newsome has done a sound job of securing future talent to plug the gaps.

This isn’t saying that Breshad Perriman can walk in and be Torrey Smith, or that Maxx Williams will make us completely forget about Owen Daniels, but there is clearly the potential for these replacements to shine and carry on the torch.

Even on the coaching staff, the devastating loss of Gary Kubiak was soon replaced with the excitement of Marc Trestman coming to town.

It is probably safe to say that it’s been another classic Ravens offseason and we can sleep sound knowing that the team’s future is in good hands.

However, I want to take a look at a loss that might turn out to be worse than it initially seemed: losing assistant head coach/secondary coach Steve Spagnuolo.

Losing an assistant coach was never going to turn too many heads, and with Dean Pees at the helm on defense you would be correct to still expect more of the same next year.  But I would argue that Steve Spagnuolo did one of the best coaching jobs in the entire NFL last year.

Think about it for a second.   Yes there were bad times (6 passing touchdowns allowed in one game, *sobs quietly*) but most would attribute those to personnel catastrophes.  What happened next to close out the season was nothing short of brilliant.

Losing an assistant coach was never going to turn too many heads, and with Dean Pees at the helm on defense you would be correct to still expect more of the same next year.  But I would argue that Steve Spagnuolo did one of the best coaching jobs in the entire NFL last year.

This is a man who took a patchwork secondary and helped secure a playoff win against Antonio Brown and the Steelers punishing passing game.  With a group of cast offs and no names.

The secondary was by no means great during this time, and it definitely didn’t win that game on its own, but it didn’t lose it either.  And it was vastly better than what we had seen to that point.

Obviously it wasn’t all Steve Spagnuolo who masterminded this.  Dean Pees and the coaching staff as a whole should be praised for it, but we still have to give credit where it is due.  Spagnuolo’s experience certainly shined here, helping the team remain calm during a storm and piece together a serviceable unit.

And now Spagnuolo is gone, returning to the Giants to reprise his role as defensive coordinator.  So what will happen if Jimmy Smith falls victim to injuries again, or if the team finds similarly bad luck this coming season?

Last year’s assistant secondary coach Chris Hewitt was promoted to secondary coach.  He has climbed his way through the Ravens coaching tree to get there, beginning in 2012 as an assistant on special teams.

My worry here is experience, as it was experience that guided the secondary through a disaster last year. Though Hewitt has no doubt learned from being a part of it, the end result would definitely have looked different with his name on it.

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I am not saying that Hewitt is not up to the job, and if the front office has confidence in him then that’s good enough for me.  As of right now, however, this is an area of concern.

We obviously have to wait and see how every move this offseason pans out before we can start judging them, but I will be keeping my eye closely focused on Hewitt’s new unit and how they respond to his coaching.

If you would have asked me two months ago what I was worried about, this might not even make the list. So I suppose you could say that things might be looking up if I’m sweating about assistant coaches.

Next: Five Ravens who need to step up at OTAs

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