The Ravens continue to adjust their coaching staff, and have given a former NFL head coach new job description.
The team announced the hiring of tight ends coach Brian Pariani, and that Steve Spagnuolo had been moved from senior defensive assistant to secondary coach.
Spagnuolo was in the consultant role last year after getting washed out in New Orleans, where the defense he coordinated set a league record for yards allowed. The former Rams head coach was already familiar with the Ravens personnel, making it an easy switch to replace Teryl Austin (who left to become Jim Caldwell’s defensive coordinator in Detroit).
“How fortunate are we to have a former NFL head coach, former defensive coordinator and secondary coach become the Ravens’ coach for our defensive backs?” head coach John Harbaugh said in the team’s release. “Steve is one of the outstanding teachers in the NFL, and he already worked with our defensive staff and players last season as a senior assistant. Our players respect him, and a number of our veteran defensive backs recently said to me that they wanted Steve to coach them.”
Pariani replaces Wade Harman, who had been with the team since 1999, as part of the offensive shakeup. He had coached tight ends alongside new offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak in Houston and Denver.
