The Ravens were coming off a soul-crushing, season-ending loss to the Bengals that kept them out of the 2017 playoffs, and John Harbaugh knew it was time to shake things up. Dean Pees was retiring as a defensive coordinator for the first time—later that offseason he’d go to work for Mike Vrabel in Tennessee—and Harbaugh was promoting Wink Martindale to run the defense.
The promotion came with a provision: We need to change.
