Head Coach

Each week, Baltimore Sun reporter Jamison Hensley will answer questions about the Ravens. To submit a question, e-mail sports@baltsun.com. Give your name and phone number so we can verify the e-mail address. HEY, JAMISON: : It's hard to imagine the Ravens' success this year without additions like Jim Leonhard, Willie Anderson, Fabian Washington and Frank Walker. Who deserves the most credit for these signings? Will the Ravens have much cap room next year for free-agent signings? Will Cappa, Lisbon, Md. HEY, WILL: : The Ravens' pro personnel staff doesn't get the credit it deserves.

The foundation for future success was laid in 2008 by the Ravens, but there need to be some changes made in the offseason if the team is to take the next step and play in the Super Bowl. By any standard, this season was an overwhelming success. No one predicted the Ravens would win more than six to eight games, much less play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game. The Ravens found out that rookie head coach John Harbaugh has a system that works, and they also discovered their quarterback of the future in Joe Flacco, a rookie out of the University of Delaware.

MIAMI-- --It's the quintessential dopey Super Bowl week question: If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? This year, there's a legit answer, at least if you ask the two coaches, the Indianapolis Colts' Tony Dungy and the Chicago Bears' Lovie Smith: a coaching tree. Well, Dungy has a tree. Smith is one of its products. This tree is unique in a couple of ways - it's one of the more recently planted, since Dungy has been an NFL head coach for only 11 years, and its branches include primarily, although not solely, African-American coaches.

After learning yesterday that football coach Paul Johnson was leaving for Georgia Tech, Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk said keeping the continuity in a successful program could be a significant factor in finding Johnson's replacement. "I think it's really important to keep as much of this glued together as I possibly can," Gladchuk said. "We've got a really good program here in terms of facilities, resources, fan base, television, bowl opportunities. Five years ago, it was all of a vision.

Mount Carmel point guard Troy Franklin Jr. is set to announce his college choice at a news conference at 12:45 p.m. today at his high school. Franklin will choose among five schools: Central Florida, George Mason, St. Bonaventure, Toledo and Towson. Here's what Troy Franklin Sr. had to say about Towson: "Towson, with [head coach] Pat Kennedy and [assistant coach] Jim Meil, they really came off well. They're at every game, I mean every game, during the open period when they can be there.

Acknowledging he was "a little shocked" that the San Diego Chargers passed him over for their head coaching position, Rex Ryan will remain the Ravens' defensive coordinator next season. The Chargers hired Norv Turner yesterday, although Ryan reportedly was a serious candidate for the job. "Sure I'm disappointed," Ryan told The Sun less than an hour after news broke about Turner. "But I would be disappointed if the Ravens made a Super Bowl run and I wasn't a part of it. We have some unfinished business here."

Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada looked around him. All of the sturdy Naval Academy buildings were still standing. The Chesapeake Bay was still lapping at the shore near the football field. His teammates were still all present and accounted for. The only major difference was that former assistant head coach Ken Niumatalolo was calling the shots as head coach now that Paul Johnson has departed for Georgia Tech. "It's an easy change," said Kaheaku-Enhada, a junior. "Coach had a meeting this morning to remind us where we came from and who we are. We still play for each other."

After three seasons as a Ravens assistant coach, Rick Neuheisel is going home. Returning to his beloved college ranks and his alma mater, yesterday Neuheisel was named head coach of UCLA, the school he quarterbacked to a Rose Bowl victory in 1984. Neuheisel will be on the Ravens' sideline for today's regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. "[The college game] is something that has been in my blood," Neuheisel said. "I've missed it the last five years." His five-year contract reportedly will pay him $1.25 million each season, plus incentives.

SAN FRANCISCO-- --If you're a Maryland football follower, and you're anticipating tomorrow night's Emerald Bowl game against Oregon State, and your mind is still drifting toward next season, don't feel bad. Ralph Friedgen is doing the same thing. For pretty much the same reason you are. Obviously, 6-6 (or 7-6, or 6-7) isn't good enough for either. Neither were the continued struggles of the offense, which only gets a slight pass from all the injuries. And the coach, as it turns out, was as uncomfortable and dissatisfied with his performance as offensive coordinator the past two seasons as the Terrapins faithful have been.

Air Force coach Troy Calhoun knows what it's like to play for the Commander in Chief's Trophy. He has felt the pride and the thrill that come with victory over Navy and Army. He's the first Academy graduate to lead the program and has a clear understanding of the rivalry that exists among the three military schools. Still, several stories have emerged from Colorado this week saying the coach and his players are viewing today's contest at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium as just another game.

By meeting academic and athletic goals spelled out in his contract, Gary Williams has earned another year as Maryland men's basketball coach. Williams, about to enter his 21st season leading his alma mater, is now signed until June 30, 2013. Williams' contract, amended a number of times, has been said by the university to be worth more than $2 million per year if he meets all academic and athletic incentives. "I'm pleased for Gary that he met the competitive and academic benchmarks of his contract," Maryland director of athletics Debbie Yow said in a written statement.

After a hiatus of nearly a year and a half, veteran tight end Todd Heap might have a role again in the Ravens' offense. Heap, in his ninth season, might not be the prime-time player he once was, but he doesn't have to be. He just needs to patrol the middle of the field on short and intermediate routes, and become a weapon in the red zone. Heap had five receptions for 74 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, as the Ravens beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-24, in the season opener.

As the Ravens open the regular season today against the Kansas City Chiefs, John Harbaugh enters his second season as Baltimore's head coach with heightened expectations. He has heard about the fans' Super Bowl aspirations and their pleas to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (more than you can count, in fact). In a sit-down with The Baltimore Sun's Jamison Hensley, Harbaugh addresses the championship buzz, the criticism of his wide receivers, his confidence in a new kicker and whether there is a secret to reaching the playoffs in consecutive seasons - something the Ravens have done only once in team history.

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland had just dropped its last game of the regular season to Boston College, and Gloria Friedgen looked stricken. She stood, pale and silent, with her daughter Kelley in a media briefing room inside Alumni Stadium, waiting for her husband, coach Ralph Friedgen, to deliver somber post-game remarks. She clasped her daughter's hand so tightly that their knuckles were mottled white. Nine months later, she shakes her head and tries to explain why losses are so wrenching.

Rex Ryan now understands the pain that the rest of the NFL has been feeling for a decade. In a rude homecoming for its former assistant coach, the Ravens' defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns and made a last-minute stop on a two-point conversion attempt to deliver a 24-23 preseason victory over the New York Jets before an announced 70,335 at M&T Bank Stadium. "I don't care if you've coached for us or not, when you play against our defense, it's hard," Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said.

Minor league baseball Blue Crabs' Etchebarren named manager of Revolution Southern Maryland Blue Crabs hitting coach Andy Etchebarren was named manager of the Atlantic League rival York Revolution on Wednesday. Etchebarren, a former Orioles player, coach and minor league manager, will make his debut for the Revolution on Friday night. Chris Hoiles, resigned as York manager Aug. 5. Etchebarren will finish the remainder of the season and continue as manager in 2010. Sam Snider, who had been interim manager, will return to his role as hitting coach.

In his first year on the job, Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron scored high in creativity, patience and understatement. He needed all three to coax an erratic, driver-less offense into the NFL's 21st century and help the Ravens reach the 2008 playoffs. Who can forget the unbalanced line? A formation with three offensive tackles - often abreast - delivered the league's fourth-most productive running game. Or the running back by three-man committee? Cameron took a fat, out-of-shape fullback in Le'Ron McClain, gave him the ball in the fourth quarter and pointed him toward the Pro Bowl.

Baseball Two autograph sessions with ex-Orioles next week Four players from the Orioles' 1989 "Why Not?" team - catcher Mickey Tettleton, outfielder Mike Devereaux and pitchers Dave Schmidt and Dave Johnson - will sign autographs next Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the MASN booth near Gate A on Eutaw Street at Camden Yards. Tettleton and Devereaux will throw out ceremonial first pitches. Former infielder-outfielder Dick Williams, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2008, will be among the signers at the Orioles Alumni Autograph Series before the game against the Oakland Athletics on Monday.

Horse racing Target Sighted endures rain to win Finney Stakes Target Sighted beat four other Maryland-bred 3-year-olds in the $50,000 Humphrey S. Finney Stakes, contested through pouring rain and over the good turf on opening day of the summer meeting at Laurel Park on Saturday. Winthrop House, the overwhelming 1-5 favorite, led to the turn before suddenly yielding and finishing last. Jonathan Joyce gave Target Sighted a patient ride on their way to victory in 1 minute, 45.28 seconds for the 1 1/16-mile test.

Two Maryland football coaches accustomed to setting examples for their players are now role models for other coaches. Andrew Bonheyo of the Maryland School for the Deaf and Donald Davis of Calvert Hall represented the state in the ninth annual Youth Football Summit in Canton, Ohio, which ran Tuesday to Friday. Traditionally, the NFL and USA Football selects just one coach per state to attend the event - a series of seminars and workshops dealing with youth issues in football and the impact coaching can have.