Having addressed the offensive and defensive sides of the football, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh turned his focus to the side he's most familiar with by naming Jerry Rosburg special teams coordinator Wednesday.
While the Ravens are happy to have Rosburg's expertise, the new coach is equally eager to tap Harbaurgh, who led the Philadelphia Eagles' special teams from 1999-2006.
"I think it's really a bonus," said Rosburg at his introductory press conference. "To have John there, to bounce things off of John and to have his expertise alongside that which I have done, I think, is really a bonus. I guess I just don't look at it as pressure. I'm fortunate to have John as my boss, but not only that, as my confidant.
"Believe me, I don't have all the answers. There's all different kinds of ways of doing things, and I think having John in the office down the hall is going to be a great resource."
The duo coached together at Cincinnati for four years, when Harbaugh was assistant head coach and Rosburg had linebackers and secondary.
It was an easy decision to work with Rosburg again, said Harbaugh.
"Jerry's a football coach, and he's proven a lot in this league as a special teams coordinator," Harbaugh explained. "I'm glad to have him on board."
Rosburg, 52, comes to Baltimore from the Atlanta Falcons, where his special teams units finished second in the NFL in opponents' average starting field position (25.5) and the kickoff return team placed sixth in average return (24.4 yards).
Before Atlanta, the Fairmont, Minn. native spent six years in Cleveland, where the Browns' special teams were consistentlyt ranked among the NFL's best.
Rosburg thinks he can have similar success for the Ravens with wideout Yamon Figurs, who returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns last season, kicker Matt Stover, the third-most accurate kicker in NFL history, and linebacker Gary Stills, a first-alternate to the Pro Bowl for his kick coverage in 2007.
"There's a lot of really good athletes that play the game the way it was intended to be played, very physically and with a lot of emotion and a lot of excitement, and that's something that I think I'd like to carry on here," he said. "I think we all know that this roster has players on it, and I look forward to working with a lot of them."
Rosburg described special teams as a "tempo-setter," a phase of the game that can greatly affect the outcome when executed effectively.
"We want to be a hard hitting, fast, exciting, active special teams [unit], and by doing so, I think that it also spreads to the rest of the team," Rosburg stated. "I tell my guys frequently in my room because I'm somewhat biased, I think the special teams has an extremely important role in the personality and the character of the team."
Rosburg joined offensive coordinator Cam Cameron for their first appearance in front of the Baltimore media.
Cameron, who was hired last Friday, said that he had already spoken with both Steve McNair and Kyle Boller
"We visited for a while today," Cameron noted. "Obviously, I have a tremendous amount of respect for [McNair}. It was a positive, positive visit. I was with Kyle for a few hours in California the other day. Like you said, [I'm] just touching base with these guys. It takes a few weeks to catch these guys this time of year, which is okay. But I was impressed with both those guys."
With Cameron, Rosburg and defensive coordinator Rex Ryan on board, Harbaugh moved forward with rounding out his coaching staff. The Ravens kept three more former coaches, with Vic Fangio as special assistant to the head coach, Mark Carrier as defensive backs coach and Wade Harman as tight ends coach.
In addition, Harbaugh added John Matsko as offensive line coach and Wilbert Montgomery as the team's new running backs coach Thursday.
