Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh explains why he likes coaching rookies from Michigan
Over the years, some regimes in the NFL show a trend in preferring players from certain college programs. Under head coach John Harbaugh, the Baltimore Ravens are one such team.
For Harbaugh, he recently admitted that he enjoys when the Ravens land players from a few programs. He specifically referenced Nick Saban’s Alabama program and his brother Jim’s Michigan program.
Why does he like getting to work with those players? According to Harbaugh, the Wolverines system is “built like NFL programs.”
“There are certain college football programs that are built like NFL programs,” Harbaugh said according to Michael David Smith with Pro Football Talk. “Alabama is one, Michigan is the other one. The two top ones, I would say. Those are the ones I’m thinking of off the top of my head. So those guys generally come in and they know what to expect. It’s a little flatter for those guys in terms of practice and understanding how it works.”
During the 2022 NFL Draft, Baltimore once again targeted the Wolverines. The Ravens landed David Ojabo with a second-round pick, even as Ojabo works to recover from a torn Achilles.
Hopefully Ojabo’s recovery allows him to get on the field early as a rookie and show that he is up to the task in the NFL.