Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak will return for a second season despite multiple head coaching vacancies.
After one year with the Baltimore Ravens, Gary Kubiak will be returning despite head coaching vacancies with other teams. It was rumored that both the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets reached out to the experienced former head coach.
“It is flattering and humbling to be invited to interview for a number of NFL head coaching positions, and I greatly appreciate these opportunities,” Kubiak said in a statement on the Ravens website. “But I have decided to stay with the Ravens.”
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This is great news for the Ravens. Baltimore found offensive success under Kubiak and having to learn another new system by different offensive coordinator would take away from building off a playoff berth despite many saying they wouldn’t succeed this season. It would have been the fourth straight year that quarterback Joe Flacco would have worked with a new offensive coordinator if Kubiak had left town to take over a new team.
Under Kubiak, the Ravens offensive scheme improved greatly. The run game went from a NFL-worst 3.1 yards per carry to the seventh best in 2014 with 4.5 yards per carry. Baltimore posted a franchise record 364.9 yards per game and finished 12th in the league in total offense. This was an improvement of being the 29th ranked offense in 2013.
With Kubiak sticking around, this is good news for the Ravens with Torrey Smith being a free agency. Smith and others have gotten comfortable under Kubiak, so he may lean towards staying with his only NFL team due to the familiarity of the offensive system.
“Coach ‘Kubs’ did a great job,” wide receiver Torrey Smith said. “He was a blessing for us this season. It was awesome playing for him, and we’re glad he was here. It’s always tough when you get comfortable with a guy like that, and he’s a players’ coach; I will tell you that much. He’s a guy that you want to play for, so if he gets another head coaching job, you’re not surprised at it.”
Well, “Coach Kubs” is going nowhere and that is good news for the Ravens organization.
They can build off their improvement between 2013 and 2014 as they prepare for the 2015. Now they must work on keeping Smith in town, so the duo of Smith and Steve Smith Sr. can continue to punish opposing defenders town the field. Without Smith in a Ravens uniform, Kubiak will need to develop a new game plan to keep the Ravens offense as threatening as they were during the 2014 season.
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