One used to call the plays. Now the other calls the shots.
Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome is reunited with one of his former NFL coaches, Marc Trestman. This may be an NFL first.
Trestman was the Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 1988 and 1989 when Newsome was putting the finishing touches on his Hall of Fame career as a tight end. Newsome played just one more season after Trestman left for Minnesota in 1990.
With Trestman calling the plays, Newsome caught 35 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns in 1988 and 29 passes for 324 yards and one score in 1989.
"It's kind of nostalgic to think it has been that long," Trestman said.
"It seems like yesterday, and I'm sure Ozzie [Newsome] feels the same way. But I learned a lot from Ozzie. As a player he was a championship-caliber player, a Hall of Fame player, certainly, and it's kind of nostalgic to think that I'll be going to work in the same building. I'm really excited about that."
Trestman and Newsome, both 59 years old, were actually born exactly two months apart. Trestman is the older of the two.
Trestman was asked about the kind of wide receiver he likes in his offense, since he had some big bodies outside in Brandon Marshal and Alshon Jeffrey in Chicago, but left that up to Newsome's front office and Head Coach John Harbaugh.
"I'm sure we'll talk about different types of players, but ultimately it's our job to coach the guys that Ozzie and John and our personnel department bring in," Trestman said. "And I'm going to be excited to coach and develop whoever those guys are and certainly the guys that are there presently."
