Once upon a time, long before the Raiders moved to Las Vegas from Oakland, there was a saying. 'Once a Raider, always a Raider.' There isn't really a Baltimore Ravens parallel. There aren't any similar catch phrases, but it's an easy idea to adopt. That's sort of how past and present Ravens already think, right?
Every time Ray Lewis or Ed Reed fo anything, we're all ears, and how about John Harbaugh? The New York Giants haven't been this fascinating since Baltimore handed them that Super Bowl XXXV beating.
The Ravens recently introduced their new coaching staff. Meanwhile, Glenn Clark hosted John Harbaugh via WBAL radio for an interview.
Perhaps you've heard. His former defensive coordinator just led the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl win, and another of his former hires is now the Ravens' head coach. Two hires that were once criticized now give Harbaugh reason to stick out his chest and remind some of his former detractors that he has no problem keeping receipts, and to remind his doubters that they once criticized him.
John Harbaugh explains the reason why he didn't take Zach Orr with him to the Giants.
'I was right, and you guys were wrong... and wrong for criticizing me.' That's what Harbaugh wants your biggest takeaway to be from his recent discussion with Glenn Clark.
What began as a discussion about the similarities between Jesse Minter and Mike Macdonald turned into something else.
"I remember people wanted to run Mike out. People didn't want me to hire Mike when I first did... You might have been on that train..."
When John Harbaugh joined us via @WBALRadio, he discussed the similarities he sees between Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter.
— Glenn Clark (@GlennClarkRadio) February 12, 2026
While throwing in "I'll be proven right about Zach Orr, too. You'll see." 👀#RavensFlockpic.twitter.com/nRTthlT8ZC
What's that phrase? Shots fired? Shots were certainly fired towards Glenn Clark with that one. Harbaugh continued to rub Clark's nose in his past sins and declarations.
"I was right (about the Macdonald hire), and I was proven right. And, I was proven right about Jesse too, and I'll stand by that because I know what a good coach looks like when I see it. And, I'll be proven right about Zach Orr too. You'll see. I'm proud of all those guys."
Clark asked him a direct but fair follow-up question about the mention of Zach Orr.
"Can I ask you about Zach since you brought him up? Somebody would say, if that's the case, why isn't he your defensive coordinator in New York?"
Ouch! You have to give Clark credit, though. You have to ask the question. We've all asked that question before. Give Harbaugh credit for answering the question.
"Sometimes, it's time to change, and Zach and I have had those conversations. We both felt it would be best for him, you know? [It would be] best for him to go get the next opportunity to grow in a different way. So, he gets a chance to grow in a different way, and I think it's going to be great for him to get a chance to do that, and it's going to be positive. So, there's your answer to your criticism or whatever it might be."
Harbaugh went on to say he doesn't know if Orr would have remained in Baltimore:
"I don't know. I didn't stay in Baltimore, so it doesn't matter."
Here's as honest a statement as can be made about Harbaugh's decision to hire all of these guys. Time has proven that he got the Jesse Minter and Mike Macdonald hires right. At some point, Zach Orr may prove to be an excellent decision as well, but early evidence was overwhelming. Orr wasn't ready to be named the Ravens' defensive coordinator.
Harbaugh, in essence, cites 'bad timing' as the reason for his decision to elect not to bring Orr along for the ride in New York. That's seemingly part of the explanation for some of what went wrong with the Ravens' defense. He may have indeed been the right hire, but one that was made at an inappropriate time.
Oh well. Time will tell. forow. Harbaugh has moved on. So have the Ravens and the defense at times struggled because of such. For now, Orr awaits his next call and opportunity.
He's a phenomenal person and a good coach. Time will tell if he's described as great. Place an asterisk by this discussion in your notes. Something tells us this will be revisited in the distant future.
This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: John Harbaugh gives honest answer to a complicated Zach Orr question