Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys staffs named to Pro Bowl

By Cory Buck | Jan 14, 2015

Jan 10, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (R) stands on the sidelines during the third quarter against the New England Patriots in the 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports /

The coaching staffs from the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys will serve on either sideline of the Pro Bowl.

The NFL has announced that the respective coaching staffs from the Baltimore Ravens and the Dallas Cowboys will coach on opposing sidelines in this year’s Pro Bowl in Arizona. The news came on the heels of a little confusion thanks to a flurry of coaching moves that created uncertainty in the typical process that surrounds such a selection.

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Normally, the AFC coaching staff selection would go to the highest seed eliminated from the playoffs to date, which would mean John Fox and the Denver Broncos coaching staff. But Fox and the Broncos parted ways and now Denver’s defensive coordinator, Jack Del Rio, appears headed to the Oakland Raiders. With turmoil ruling the day in Denver, the league turned to Baltimore.

“I polled our coaches to see how they felt about it, and they all were excited about coaching a Pro Bowl,” John Harbaugh said per ESPN. “We’ll look forward to doing that.”

The Ravens were eliminated in the Divisional Round by the New England Patriots, but they’ll maintain their coaching staff, making this an easier decision. The opposing staff, however, didn’t have the immediate luxury of job security after their own playoff elimination.

Until just a couple days after their season’s end, the Dallas Cowboys saw contracts expire with head coach Jason Garrett and his main supporting crew which included defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and passing game architect Scott Linehan.

Garrett has reportedly signed a five-year deal with the Cowboys, with the others close behind. At the very least, the staff appears to have enough cohesion to make a run of their own at Pro Bowl glory.

Neither staff will know who they’ll be coaching just yet as the teams are to be picked by former NFL greats Cris Carter and Michael Irvin in advance of Pro Bowl week. From there, the coaches will have a week to prep their team for what amounts to an exhibition.

Don’t tell John Harbaugh the game is meaningless though. He wasn’t having any of it in advance of this week of preparation.

“We’re going to implore [our team] to play a little harder than the other guy,” Harbaugh told ESPN. “I’m going to have a good halftime speech ready. We’ll motivate them. You know there is a difference between the winning share and the losing share, right? That’s a big motivator for anybody.”

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