The Ravens have added experience and a familiar face to their defensive meeting rooms, as Dean Pees has joined first-year Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr's staff as a senior advisor.
Pees, 75, was most recently the Atlanta Falcons' defensive coordinator from 2021-2022. He was the Tennessee Titans' coordinator before that (2018-2019) after his eight-year tenure in Baltimore, which included a win in Super Bowl XLVII.
"I'm really excited about it," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "It's great. Zach and I talked about that. Zach has been in touch with Dean really all the time. [He's] kind of a good sounding board and a mentor for Zach. I know they're very close.
"Dean and I go back a long, long way. His football knowledge and his ability to put an eye on things and be a great sounding board and a backup for everybody is super good. I'm glad he's here and to just see his face out here. It can make us better, so I'm happy about that."
Pees coached Orr during his three-year career as a linebacker. Orr told The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec that he's remained in contact with Pees this season.
"I said, 'Hey, it would be good if you wanted to come up here and be an advisor, be another set of eyes, just be a help to us,'" Orr said. "Ultimately, all I care about is us performing the best we can to help us win.
"If you get a guy I'm real close with and a guy who knows the culture and is a great football mind, and he's down for it, to me, it's a no brainer."
The Ravens currently rank 19th in total defense – No. 1 in rush defense (60.4) and 31st in pass defense (280.2). Baltimore is coming off a game in which it surrendered 38 points to the Cincinnati Bengals and 392 passing yards and five touchdowns to Joe Burrow.
The Ravens lost several defensive coaches this offseason, as Mike Macdonald went to Seattle to become a head coach and Anthony Weaver and Dennard Wilson went to Miami and Tennessee, respectively, as defensive coordinators. Bringing Pees into the fold will add another experienced perspective.
"We're kind of confronting everything right now, and I think that's a great part of our organization and our defense; there are no egos," safety Kyle Hamilton said. "'Z.O.' could have easily been like, 'No, we're going to fix it in house,' but to be humble enough and be willing to bring somebody in who knows what they're doing ... It's not like he's going to come in and start calling the defense, but he's somebody who's seen a lot of ball. It just helps us out a little bit."
Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce played for Pees for his first two seasons in the league and said he has "love for Dean forever."
"He's a wealth of knowledge. He won a Super Bowl, he's done a lot of different things," Pierce said.
"We're hungry to get back to where we were last year. Obviously we have to start all the way over, we hit some bumps in the road, but it just speaks to [Orr's] dedication. Anytime you're the head of something and you're not too proud to bring people in to bring help, speaks volumes to me about your character, how much you care about not only yourself but us as an organization, us as a defense."
