"There's a heightened sense of excitement," he said. "You get to put your stamp on this defense. But the biggest thing is this defense is all about the players. It's the players' defense. The way they play, the tradition here. Our job is to continue that."
Baltimore Sun reporter Jamison Hensley contributed to this article.
meet greg mattison
Years with Ravens:
1 (entering second year)
Age: 59
Born: Madison, Wis.
College: Wisconsin-La Crosse
Family: Mattison and his wife, Ann, have two children. Lisa graduated in 2003 from Notre Dame, where she was a three-time All-Big East selection in softball. Bryan was a defensive end and team captain for Iowa in 2007 and spent most of the 2008 season with the Ravens, either on the practice squad or injured reserve with a leg injury.
Coaching background: Mattison launched his coaching career as a high school head coach in Muscoda, Wis., in 1971. He was a graduate assistant in 1976 at Illinois, then spent one year at Cornell, three at Northwestern and six at Western Michigan, where he was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He coached at Navy (1987-1988), Texas A&M (1989-1991), Michigan (1992-1996), Notre Dame (1997-2004) and Florida (2005-2007) before joining the Ravens in 2008.
