Orr was the inside linebackers coach for the Ravens before Orr was the inside linebackers coach for the Ravens before Mike Macdonald was hired as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks Macdonald was hired as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, which led to Orr’s promotion to defensive coordinator. Orr expects his defense, which finished as the best in the NFL last season, to be vicious and chaotic every time they on the field.
Orr described his hopes for the defense as “organized chaos.” “Make the offense appear to have several issues. Never provide the offensive with the solution prior to the snap. However, I would say that. Hit everything that moves as the first step in identifying yourself. We intend to play violent games. We will play together and carry out our tasks.”
The Ravens defense led the league in sacks (60), tied for first in turnovers (31) and gave up the fewest points per game (16.5) this season, so schematically, Orr has a foundation upon which to build. With Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen, Baltimore possessed one of the best inside linebacker tandems in football, and Orr played a key role in the team’s success.
Smith led the Ravens’ defense with 158 tackles, including five for a loss, eight passes defended, and 1.5 sacks. He was named to the AP first team All-Pro for the second consecutive season. With a career-high 133 tackles—nine of which were for a loss—and 3.5 sacks, Queen was a second-team All-Pro.
Queen is one of several defensive standouts for the Ravens who will be available for free agency this offseason. Other notable players include safety Geno Stone, who led the club and finished second in the league in interceptions, and defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, who led the team with 13 sacks. Orr stated that his main focus will be on self-scouting and finding ways to improve whether the defense returns most of its players or replaces a large number of them, given the inevitable turnover that is certain to occur.
“You never stay the same,” Orr remarked. “You either improve or deteriorate. It goes without saying that last year was fantastic, and what we did was go through the procedure.You should always strive to be on the cutting edge, adapt, and be prepared for whatever the offensive may throw at you. We will therefore enter the lab during this off-season. We’re going to examine ourselves, what we did well, and how we may improve even further.”
Orr has been a coach in Baltimore for six of his seven years; his one year away was in 2021 when he was the outside linebacker coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his short NFL career (2014–2016), Orr led the team in tackles and tackles for loss (7.5), and he seemed poised to establish himself as a defensive mainstay for the Ravens. However, in Week 16 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he sustained two herniated discs. Orr retired during the 2016 season due to a congenital spine/neck problem, as determined by the Ravens medical staff.
While most players would be left wondering what comes next after suffering a career-ending injury, Orr was supported by the Ravens, who offered him his coaching debut in 2017 as a defensive analyst. After seven years, Orr is still rising through the coaching levels, but this time he is in charge of Baltimore’s defense in a different role.
Being the defensive coordinator for the Ravens means more to him than coaching somewhere else, especially because the Ravens organization supported him.
Orr declared, “I bleed black and purple.” “I have a connection to this organization. I find a little more meaning in this. It’s not just me coaching for any other organization or in the National Football League. No, I’m a coach for the company that stood by me. They prevented me from really putting my head down when I went through what I went through. I was unsure about what might happen next.They’re going to get all I have since they supported me through a difficult time, as evidenced by the fact that they did it for me.”
