Former Ravens coach Brian Billick joins Arizona State’s staff; All-NFL honors for 3 Ravens | NOTES
Former Ravens coach Brian Billick has joined Arizona State’s staff as an offensive analyst and adviser to head coach Herm Edwards, the Sun Devils announced Monday.
Billick, who coached the Ravens from 1999 to 2007 and won Super Bowl XXXV, will reunite with his former defensive coordinator, Marvin Lewis, who serves on staff as a special assistant to Edwards. Billick said in a statement that Arizona State reached out two weeks ago, when he was coaching the Hula Bowl, a college football all-star game.
“I have known Coach Edwards for over 40 years and both Ray Anderson and Marvin Lewis for almost that long,” Billick said in the statement. “I really enjoyed tapping into the players there and helping them to highlight their abilities. They proposed this opportunity to me, to have another set of eyes looking at and evaluating Sun Devil football and I thought it was the right time for me to make this move.
“I love what they are doing at ASU. It’s all about structure in the NFL and hopefully that’s what I can bring to the table at ASU. My work for the last 12 years in television at Fox and the NFL Network has allowed me to take a step back and see the game from a different angle. It broadened my perspective and that is what I will bring to this position.”
Edwards said Billick, who recently served as analyst for the NFL Network and has contributed to the Ravens’ team website, “has built one of the finest reputations the NFL has ever known, serving as a head coach, an assistant coach and as a respected television analyst. Brian has one of the brightest offensive minds in football today and that is especially why I hired him. He will serve as a valuable resource to our entire coaching staff, but specifically to our offensive staff.”
Edwards, who served as head coach for the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs in the 2000s, is 25-18 overall in four seasons at Arizona State. The Sun Devils are coming off an 8-5 season, including a 6-3 mark in Pac-12 Conference play.
More honors for trio
After earning first-team All-Pro honors earlier this month, Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, kicker Justin Tucker and punt returner Devin Duvernay were named to the All-NFL and All-AFC teams Monday by the Pro Football Writers of America.
Andrews led all NFL tight ends in receptions (107) and receiving yards (1,361) and set franchise records for receiving in both categories. Tucker made 35 of 37 field-goal attempts this season and went 32-for-32 on extra-point attempts. Duvernay, meanwhile, led the league with 13.9 yards per punt return.
Tucker has been named All-NFL by the PFWA in four straight seasons. This is the first such honor for Andrews and Duvernay.
Former Ravens outside linebacker Matthew Judon was named All-AFC after a standout first season with the New England Patriots. Former Maryland cornerback J.C. Jackson, now a star for the Patriots, was also named All-AFC.
Wolfe undergoes surgery
Ravens defensive lineman Derek Wolfe, who missed the 2021 season with back and hip injuries, tweeted Monday that he is “on the mend” after undergoing successful hip surgery.
Wolfe, who last offseason signed a three-year, $12 million contract that included $8.5 million guaranteed, was injured during a joint training camp practice with the Carolina Panthers in August. He returned to practice briefly in late October but was never activated to the Ravens’ 53-man roster.
”He’s not in a place where he’s going to be able to play,” coach John Harbaugh said in mid-November.
In 2020, Wolfe’s first season in Baltimore, he had 51 tackles (six for loss), one sack and four quarterback hits in 14 games, eight of which he started.