The transition from Rex Ryan's complex, cover-2 schemes to the new wrinkles of Greg Mattison's defense figures to be more subtle than startling when the Ravens hold their first minicamp of the offseason Friday.
"There will be a lot of similarities to what we've run in the past," Mattison said this week. "I think the players will see any changes that have been made and why we made them. Things haven't changed much; we're just going to try to improve what we do."
Still, the biggest change from John Harbaugh's first season as Ravens coach to the second will center on the team's unswerving defense. Mattison, who spent his first NFL season coaching linebackers, was promoted to defensive coordinator Jan. 26 after Ryan became coach of the New York Jets.
Since then, Mattison, 59, has fine-tuned a playbook that was one of the league's most feared under Marvin Lewis, Mike Nolan and finally Ryan. Under Ryan, the defense never finished worse than sixth in total yards allowed.
The concept behind Mattison's subtle tweaking was the same as the keynote of Ryan's clever schemes: Put players in the right position to do what they do best.
"I think Greg is an old-school, fundamental, detail-oriented kind of a coach," Harbaugh said. "I think he's going to put guys in position from a fundamental standpoint to do things that they do well one-on-one."
Mattison might have only one season in the NFL, but he brings an impressive resume to the discussion. He coached 31 years at the college level, 10 as a defensive coordinator. He was co-coordinator with Charlie Strong at Florida before joining the Ravens, and also coordinated defenses at Notre Dame, Michigan and Western Michigan.
Among the players he coached along the way were defensive end Justin Tuck of the New York Giants, former Ravens end Tony Weaver, and John Offerdahl, a retired five-time Pro Bowl linebacker with the Miami Dolphins.
In large part, it was Mattison's relationships with his players - and the integrity with which he held those relationships - that convinced Harbaugh he was the right person to replace the popular Ryan.
Offerdahl, who owns a restaurant chain in South Florida, didn't want to play football when he first met Mattison in 1982. Offerdahl was a linebacker at Fort Atkinson (Wis.) High, and Mattison was recruiting for Jack Harbaugh - John's father - at Western Michigan. (John was on the staff as a graduate assistant at the time.)
