Cam Cameron? Aren't there other OC candidates?

The author of that article made it sound like the Ravens have Top 10 talent on offense and it's a valid expectation for them to have a Top 10 offense. That's just stupid. Anyway, the key point to look at is how he said:

"To his credit, Cameron has made the Ravens'
offense much better than what it was under former coach Brian Billick."
(note that Brian Billick, after being named the offensive coordinator of Utah State University ,
improved the second-worst
offense in Division I-A into a top-10
offense in only three seasons.)

And Cam made the offense much better despite, as the author pointed out,

"Joe
Flacco has been too inconsistent. Ray Rice isn't
being used enough.
...
Flacco
looked like a top-five quarterback one week and a bottom-five one the next.
...
the lack of touches for Rice"

So, if LSU sees a "much better" offense with Cam, even if we have inconsistent QB play and don't run the ball enough....I'll be be happy (and i did think we had inconsisent QB play and passed way too much last year, i think its because Mett consisently looks awesome in practice so we keep passing too much with him expecting him to be great...same with Ravens, Flacco did turn out to be great down the stretch...he had an astonishing 117.2 QB rating in the playoffs with 11 TD and 0 INT)

 

If another school had hired Cam, what do you think would be said about Les? This is a great hire, the first year Les at LSU, Bo and Jimbo, gonna be a fun year.

 

Washington Post:

"You're too smart to coach. You're not
coaching," Cameron recalls Knight saying.
"You're going to law school. ... You get
your law degree and after that we'll talk
about you coaching."
...
But Knight originally thought Cameron
meant he wanted to coach basketball,
which seemed logical.
Cameron was born in Chapel Hill, N.C.,
home of the North Carolina Tar Heels. As
a high schooler, Cameron took his high
school team to the Indiana state Final
Four, was hailed as one of the top players
in the state and eventually was honored
by the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
And after deciding to help Cameron
realize his coaching dream, Knight's first
call wasn't to Schembechler, but to
Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith.
"If I hadn't said anything, I'd probably be
coaching basketball right now," Cameron
said.
...
San Diego
quarterback Philip Rivers, who starred in
Cameron's offense with the Chargers,
where the new Dolphins coach spent the
past five seasons turning San Diego into
an offensive juggernaut (said about Cam)
"He has a great
understanding of the game in all phases."
... "He's a great motivator" ...
" He really has the demeanor about him
that exudes a lot of confidence."
With one look at Cameron's resume, it's
easy to see where that confidence comes
from.
He's either played for, worked with or
studied under some great coaches,
including Knight, Schembechler, Marty
Schottenheimer with the Chargers, Lee
Corso and Sam Wyche at Indiana, even
former Dallas coach Tom Landry.
...
"You won't find three tougher men, guys
that are mentally tough, than you would
of Bo Schembechler, Bob Knight and
Marty Schottenheimer," Cameron said.
"It's a tough business, whether it be pro
football or big-time college basketball. ...
To be able to be tutored by those men, I
don't think it can get any better than
that."
...

 

Randle-El on Cam:

BTN.com: Does playing for guys like Cam
Cameron and Bobby Knight prepare you for
the next level?

Randle El: Yes, indeed. It brings the best out
of you. You have to think about this– I’ve
played for a Hall of Fame coach in Coach
Bobby Knight, a Hall of Fame coach in
Coach Joe Gibbs in Washington, a Hall of
Fame – or soon-to- be Hall of Fame – coach
in Bill Cowher, and I wouldn’t be surprised if
Cam Cameron was a Hall of Fame coach as
well someday.

 

HOFer Isiah Thomas on Cam:

Knicks coach Isiah Thomas was a basketball
teammate of Cam
Cameron at Indiana while playing for Bobby
Knight.

“He played basketball and football also,”
Thomas told reporters at Monday morning’s
shootaround before the Knicks-Heat game in
Miami. “That’s why he’s offensive-minded.
Really, I think the things that he’s able to
apply from basketball to football gives him a
great offensive mind.
“He’s a great play-caller. And he’s a good
guy. He’s a work-a-holic"

 

The Ravens had middle of the pack talent on offense at best

Now go look what Cam did with the Dolphins, a team with top third talent....

Also:
Harbaugh and Flacco praised Cameron
during Super Bowl week and Harbaugh
promised him a Super Bowl ring.
"In my mind, he is definitely going to get a
ring," Harbaugh said after the victory. "He
deserves a ring."

 

Ravens Q&A with offensive
coordinator Cam Cameron
November 23, 2010,
The Baltimore Sun

Question: What's the most difficult part
about being the offensive coordinator?
Answer: I never looked at anything being real
difficult other than going against great
defensive coordinators and veteran defensive
players. I would say going against veteran
NFL defensive players because
they know you, they study you, you very
seldom can fool them, there's not many
plays that they haven't seen. Linebackers
like Ray Lewis, Zach Thomas, those guys,
veteran safeties like Rodney Harrison — all
of those players are so smart and so good
that they make it really hard for you to move
the football

Q: How tough has it been to keep all of the
players happy in terms of sharing the
football?
A: I don't know that it's ever easy because
defenses don't make it easy. I think you see
it play out across the league.
... I believe in doing everything
you can to get everybody involved. I grew
up playing with Larry Bird all the way through
high school, and the thing that I learned from
Larry Bird — and you saw he and Magic
Johnson, probably two of the greats of all
time, do this — is, getting everybody
involved. I've watched that play out, and I
think that's my job. ...
We have plays in every game plan for
every guy. Does it always work? No.
Defenses can take a guy away, but...
Over the course
of time, we should be able to keep
everybody involved, and I try to make sure
that every guy is going to get an opportunity
in a critical situation to help us win the
game. Does it always work? No.
...
Q: During last week's radio program, coach
John Harbaugh said that Joe Flacco has the
ability to make adjustments at the line of
scrimmage. Is that a recent development or
something he's had at his disposal for a
while?
A: Actually, we probably did more of that
during his rookie year because we were a
no-huddle team during his rookie year. But
now, people are attacking Joe differently.
People didn't disguise defenses for a year-
and-a-half against Joe. ...
But now, people have gone to a
disguise. Without getting too tactical, we
have stuff built into everything we're doing.
Everybody would be very surprised if they
knew all of the options and decisions that
Joe is making while he's out there. We're
just not going to let everybody know what
we're doing.

Q: When you are crafting the game plan for
the week, what's the process? Do you run it
by John Harbaugh? Ultimately, do you have
the final say...?

A: It evolves...We have a coordinators'
meeting on Tuesday night, and then we kind
of collectively come together. I get to hear
what [defensive coordinator] Greg [Mattison]
is thinking, I get to hear what [assistant head
coach and special teams coordinator] Jerry
[Rosburg] is thinking, and I kind of give them
how I see it. And then we blend it all
together. That's the starting point. And then
things kind of evolve as the week goes on,
and it can evolve all the way up to game
time based on who they have active or
inactive, a change in weather. It is truly a
fluid situation, but there's great
communication here. We're all on the same
page. John gives us tremendous input of the
opposing team's defense because he comes
from that defensive perspective, and yet he
knows offense , he knows our system, he
knows it inside and out. We're all working
together. We get a lot of feedback from our
defensive coaches every week. Everybody's
involved. And then our players, this is the
best group of players I've been around for
input. We get input from [wide receiver]
Derrick [Mason], from Q [wide receiver
Anquan Boldin], from (center) Matt [Birk],
from [wide receiver] T.J. [Houshmandzadeh],
from [running back] Willis [McGahee], from
[tight end] Todd [Heap]. Those guys, we ask
them for their input, and we get a lot of input
during the week from them and even during
games.
...
Q: Fair or unfair, you only had one season as
a head coach. Do you aspire to become a
head coach again?
A: Some day, but that some day is not
today. I'm not sure which job I enjoy more. I
enjoy both differently. I really enjoy being an
offensive coordinator. I want to be the best
offensive coordinator that I can possibly be.
Some coordinator jobs in this league are
better than head coaching jobs. There are
some head coaching job that are probably
better than coordinator jobs, but not every
head coaching job in this league is better
than an offensive coordinator's job for the
Baltimore Ravens.
...
Q: Who is the toughest defensive
coordinator you've faced in the NFL?
A: There have been a lot of great defensive
coordinators over the years. Going against
New England is tough. Pittsburgh. But if you
said I could only pick one, there's five or six
that are really close, but I would have to say
— I've gone against Buddy Ryan, I've gone
against Rex and Rob, but I don't think
anybody would fault me with this choice —
Jim Johnson [the late Philadelphia Eagles
defensive coordinator]. He's one of the great
coordinators in the history of this league.
Q: Why Jim Johnson?
A: Some guys can disguise, but they can't
attack. Some guys can attack, but they can't
disguise. He could disguise and attack, and
those are the defenses that give you
problems. The teams that can disguise their
intentions and attack are the ones that are
the most difficult.

 

seems to have a pretty good offensive line, ray rice and nice set of receivers. cam didn't do too well with dolphins. so i don't know what the point is???

 

Saban didn't do too well with the Dolphins, and Cam had to clean up Saban's mess. Go look at Saban's success during his four years as NFL DC and its a mirror image of Cam's success during Cam's first 4 years as an NFL OC. Saban comes to the NCAA and dominates, while Cam stays as an NFL OC for 6 more years than Saban, more than doubling Saban in experience coaching and matching wits with the best of the best. And now Cam is coming to the NCAA and Saban's life just got a lot more difficult...

 

From a good Jun 17, 2011 article by Ryan Mink of http://www.baltimoreravens.com

...(Cam's background features) a who's who of
coaching and playing brilliance that would
mold Cameron into one of the most highly-
regarded offensive minds in the game
...
"He's learned from some of the best in the
business."
...
Cameron would ride with Harp to the Indiana
State coaching offices every day during the
summer. He practically lived there from 7th
grade through high school.
...
A coach by the name of Bobby Turner took
Cameron under his wing. At 13 years old,
Cameron would watch tape, read coaching
how-to books, flip through the team's
playbook. He began sitting in on meetings
and helping run practice drills.
"He was asking questions that the players
were asking me, or questions coaches would
ask other coaches," said Turner, now a 19-
year NFL running backs coach with the
Redskins. "They were very intelligent
questions."
...
When Cameron's high school football coach,
the late Bob Clements, told his assistants
that he was going to start letting Cameron
call his own plays as a sophomore
quarterback, they were naturally a bit taken
aback.
...
As a quarterback, Cameron was a two-time
All-State selection and All-American as a
senior. As a point guard, he led South Vigo
High's basketball team to three consecutive
state finals.
...
Cameron decided to play at Indiana, which
then employed some of the most-respected
coaches of its time.
...
Lee Corso, who is now mostly seen as a
funny-man ESPN college football analyst,
but was an excellent coach for a decade at
Indiana.
Sam Wyche...fresh off winning a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers. Wyche, who later became known as the guru of the no-huddle
offense, taught Cameron the West Coast
offense.
"He opened my mind to creativity," Cameron
said.
Cameron also played basketball at Indiana,
which meant he was mentored by legendary
coach Bobby Knight.
...
On a recommendation from Knight, Cameron
got a job as a graduate assistant at
Michigan under Bo Schembechler
...
In 1985, Cameron was named Michigan's
quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. The
first quarterback he ever coached was Jim
Harbaugh, current San Francisco 49ers head
coach
...
In their first year together, Harbaugh became
the NCAA's most efficient quarterback.
Michigan won the Fiesta Bowl that season
and reached the Rose Bowl the next.
Harbaugh became a first-round draft pick
and eventually played 15 years in the NFL.
"Even though he was so young, he was as
good as any coach I ever had in my whole
playing career," Harbaugh unequivocally
said.
...
Soon, he
was coaching future NFL quarterbacks Elvis
Grbac and Todd Collins. The NFL came
calling in 1994, and Cameron helped steer
Gus Frerotte and Trent Green each to Pro
Bowls with the Washington Redskins.
After a stint as head coach at his alma mater
of Indiana, Cameron headed west to San
Diego to coach under the well-respected
offensive mind of Marty Schottenheimer.
There, Cameron groomed Drew Brees and
Philip Rivers, two of today's top
quarterbacks.
...
"He's one of the best coaches in America,"
said Scot Loeffler, another of Cameron's
quarterbacks at Michigan who is now the
offensive coordinator at Temple.
"If my son ever grows into a quarterback, I'd
want Cam to coach him."
...