Ravens get new LB coach

[RavenScallywag]

I think Billick brought in Fangio with an eye towards a future DC position. Rex was gonna get a HC job eventually.

I was surprised Fangio hung around with the Harbs staff.

When he was passed over for Mattison, he probably wanted to start looking elsewhere. Its only natural for a new HC to start bringing in his own guys.

Good point...this leaves Clarence Brooks and Wade Harman as the only Billick staff holdovers.

[Ravenswarrior19]

Mark Carrier too.

[JimZipCode]

ok, you win, there's a loose connection.

Loose connection! Harbaugh played for Pees, in college. It's not like he barely knows the guy.

[JimZipCode]

Fangio should have been DC over Mattison this past year, given his experience. I agree with others who worry that this staff may be getting a little too incestuous or group-thinkey. Not every good NFL coach is going to have longstanding ties to Harbaugh.

That said, I don't mean to criticize this hire. Pees can probably coach. Likely knows some football too. I just think we should have gotten more out of Fangio.

If Harbaugh coaches in the NFL for 10 yrs or so, he'll wind up making several more hires and promotions. If new blood is needed, he'll have chances to bring it in.

[RavenScallywag]

Pees coordinated Harbaugh for one year. Wow, that sure is a strong connection....

My point is more that Harbaugh isn't just "hiring his buddies"...Pees is a respected defensive mind who was up for the DC job in Denver. Yes, they had a connection, but it's not like he's just giving the guy a job to do him a favor. It's not like he's pulling in his neighbor who played two years of high school football to run the team, Pees is being brought in more for what he's done OUTSIDE of when he was working with Harbaugh.

[Mista T]

On game day, Fangio was one of the lead voices in the booth on replay challenges

Perhaps the non-challenge fiasco at Foxboro was a factor in this decision.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

Perhaps the non-challenge fiasco at Foxboro was a factor in this decision.

That is exactly what I was going to say T. That non-challenge was totally inexcusable IMHO. I remember when Harbs was giving his excuse...he said that "our guys said they saw the ball hit Zibby and didn't get another look". That sounds to me as though Fangio didn't pay any attention whatsoever at the end of the play when the guy clearly lost possession. There is no excuse that I could hear that will satisfy me on that one...we have challenged many plays with much less evidence than that, and I know EVERYBODY, that saw the CBS feed, saw the guy clearly lose posession of the ball, and saw it a good 20 seconds or so before the pats snapped the ball again. Hell it was enough time for about 10 people or so to type it up and post it in the game thread before the snap. If your guy's major job is to watch the TV feed and decide if/when to challenge, and he can't even do that, what good is he. I would do a better job of it and I'd do it for free.

I know that many of us though that was a potential HUGE momentum swing play and could have been the big factor that let the Pats back into a game they were getting dominated in. You can't have your challenge guy asleep at the wheel in situations like that.

[Rxdoxx]

That is exactly what I was going to say T. That non-challenge was totally inexcusable IMHO. I remember when Harbs was giving his excuse...he said that "our guys said they saw the ball hit Zibby and didn't get another look". That sounds to me as though Fangio didn't pay any attention whatsoever at the end of the play when the guy clearly lost possession. There is no excuse that I could hear that will satisfy me on that one...we have challenged many plays with much less evidence than that, and I know EVERYBODY, that saw the CBS feed, saw the guy clearly lose posession of the ball, and saw it a good 20 seconds or so before the pats snapped the ball again. Hell it was enough time for about 10 people or so to type it up and post it in the game thread before the snap. If your guy's major job is to watch the TV feed and decide if/when to challenge, and he can't even do that, what good is he. I would do a better job of it and I'd do it for free.

I know that many of us though that was a potential HUGE momentum swing play and could have been the big factor that let the Pats back into a game they were getting dominated in. You can't have your challenge guy asleep at the wheel in situations like that.

And add that there sure is technology available. Foxboro "glitches" happening to the visiting team is an open secret.
Sounds like there was no thought to recording the live feed on a laptop as a back-up, because you would know that there will be no unfavorable replay shown in the stadium. There were hints that we didn't get the fumble part of the clip which I don't know the truth of, but I can easily go along with someone not being prepared enough to do their job and having to pay the price... RBs start fumbling and they are introduced to the bench, harder to isolate a coach in season, but after the season, situation gets resolved.
Find myself wondering what exactly was Harbs correct percentage of challenges? I know the Willis 2 point failure was one lost, and know that there was an overhead angle that was aired but never replayed. (I went back and looked at that angle numerous times, looked like he was in but not absolutely conclusive). Methinks it was more than a one-time goof-up.

[Ravenswarrior19]

I found it strange that, when talking about the non-challenge with reporters, Harbs kept referring to a commercial break. There was no commercial break after the play.

Could this have been the ghosts of Foxboro, or was Harbs trying to cover for the coaches who missed it?

[RAVENOUS52]

Loose connection! Harbaugh played for Pees, in college. It's not like he barely knows the guy.

Stated Harbaugh of Pees: “He was the one coach who thought I could play.”

Loose connection?? We talkin bout Loose connections??

Sounds like qualified or not, the guy was a sentimental pick by Harbs.

Maybe it comes back to haunt us, maybe it doesn't. But the words from Harbs' own mouth make it clear that there's more than just a "Loose connection" between them.

I'll bet when Harbaugh got the Ravens HC job he called Pees to thank him for his belief in him the year he coached him in college!

[Raveninwoodlawn]

I don't think it was an issue of us getting the CBS feed. Unless the Pats physically cut the feed, which we have heard no rumor at all of, they saw what all of us at home saw. Of course they didn't show any replays on the board in the stadium, but no team does that...not us, not the Steelers, nobody and I'm perfectly fine with that. But every team has a guy in the booth who has his TV hooked up to CBS...whether it is a feed from the stadium or over the air. And I've never heard of a team having that feed cut in thier booth.

The problem that Harbs inferred with his comment about the ball hitting Zibby is that Fangio didn't even pay attention to the end of the play...in his mind, the only potential dispute in the play was the ball hitting our player (which it did), and he didn't pay any attention at all to the fact that the Pats player never had full control of the ball when he went out of bounds. And THAT is a big problem IMHO. It looks like we have a guy who either doesn't know the rules, or didn't pay attention to the entire play.

Since that is such an important position on the team, you can't have that.

[Sua Sponte]

The guy was a good D' coordinator for the past few years, why would we not want him on the staff as a LB coach, probably taking less money, but still a great mind and possible replacement for Matti if he starts slow again.