LT Bryant McKinnie says he left the Ravens with no regrets and weighs in on transition to OL coach Juan Castillo

[Poes Crows]

Harbaugh is a talker and I usually roll my eyes with some answers he gives to the press but I believe him when he said they are looking hard at the offensive line. I think we will be just fine. We will go 5-1 in next 6 games.

5-1?.....Really?  Well, if we do all is solved.

 

I don't know.

 

We should beat Cleveland with their QB problems. After that, just don't know.

 

Browns

Bengals

Bears

Jets

Steelers

Vikings

 

Maybe you're right...maybe we can go 5-1 or 4-2. We'll have to beat the Steelers to do it though and they ran right through us last.

[LordRavens]

What is with ravens fans trying to find a scapegoat? 

[Bltravens]

5-1?.....Really?  Well, if we do all is solved.

 

I don't know.

 

We should beat Cleveland with their QB problems. After that, just don't know.

 

Browns

Bengals

Bears

Jets

Steelers

Vikings

 

Maybe you're right...maybe we can go 5-1 or 4-2. We'll have to beat the Steelers to do it though and they ran right through us last.

That's an extremely weak schedule.  Browns are starting Campbell this weekend, Bengals are a legitimate playoff team, Cutler is supposed to be out for a month (if not thats a rough game), Jets are middle of the road like us and have a rookie QB, if we lose twice to this mediocre Steeler's team we have no business going to the playoffs and the Vikings are a mess.

[redravenfan]

I think Harbs has seen enough of castillo's changes , after all his job is on the line if we keep playing this bad. I say we rip off 7 wins in a row that takes care of all but one division game.  I have a feeling things will click and we will turn this around .

[Ravenseconbeast]

TY B.Mac for the Superbowl run.   I don't think anyone can deny that w/o him stepping up @ playoffs, we wouldn't have gotten that Lombardi.   

Too bad the O-line didn't gel well this year.   I'm glad he doesn't harbor any ill-will.  Good luck to him @ Miami!

[omar586]

I KNEW IT!!!! i knew it was castillo scheme's that screwed our Oline up, no way in world that your oline just becomes pathetic overnight guys, they better scrab that crab and stick to what working, other wise flacco wont last that long,

[TheRavenouseD2008]

mckinnie was not the only issue the line is not only not gelling but the main issue is health we have 1 new tackle a tackle transfering to guard with a bad back yanda is off of an injury last year oher has had a ankle issue  gino is trying his best with no continuity and castillo has his head in the sand playing ostrich for the first 8 games including preseason.

[jazz1988]

Juan, is that you? LOL

You know Juan was hired on Jan 21st, 2013, right? The Ravens won the Superbowl on Feb 3rd, 2013, right? Ok

So, in 12 days (not accounting for Juan getting adjusted to his new envronment and team's scheme, as well as, team travel and accomodation to for the big game) Juan was able to "teach up" an already well performing offensive line and running backs to give us that edge to win the Super Bowl. Yet......... We are heading into week 8 of the 2013 season and the offensive line is struggle to pick up his blocking scheme and running techique?

Do you guys use logic when formulating opinions? No offense, just asking anyone that follows the theory of the poster below.

if I am misguided, please correct me and help me understand.

Thanks.
 

 

 

Juan was hired in January but was around the team longer then that  its just that the ravens didn't announce officially that Juan Castillo was apart of  the staff until January  . This what the Baltimore sun had to say" His addition to the staff doesn't come as a surprise considering that Castillo has been a guest of Harbaugh's at Ravens home games at M&T Bank Stadium since being dismissed by the Eagles". 

www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/ravens-insider/bal-jim-caldwell-to-stay-on-as-offensive-coordinator-juan-castillo-joins-staff-20130121,0,2033534.story#ixzz2itVM0cVB

 

I truly believe Castillo was giving tips to help the o-line performance only as a  consultant  im not saying he implemented new schemes or what not but it's quite possible he provided helpful tips to O-Line  coach Andy Moeller with getting the best out of the offensive line. Once he was officially announced as the offensive run game coordinator(that didn't really take affect until  this season) he was giving more control and was able to really implement his own scheme and his own way on how to coach things.

 

Castillo got fired by the eagles some where in October  now if  he was a consistent guest at the ravens home game since being fired from the Eagles then I doubt he was  just being there to watch  games  then go over john Harbaugh house to play uno and eat cake. I could be wrong  but I really think Juan Castillo had some kind of influence on how the ravens o-line played through out the playoffs and etc( yes this could be pure speculation on my part).

[The Raven]

It's obvious that Castillo is a great coach, and if he learns to adjust his schemes, he could be here a long time. He knows his stuff. He just needs to be open to changes. 

[CalvinSmoke]

It's obvious that Castillo is a great coach, and if he learns to adjust his schemes, he could be here a long time. He knows his stuff. He just needs to be open to changes. 

to take that even further, i believe the system he's bringing here could work. But  I don't know if it will fly with our personnel. 

[jdynamite]

Pretty much makes me think of how I felt about Cam Cameron. It seemed like he rarely adjust his playcalling to the talent we had. Constantly trying to develop deep routes or 10 yd comebacks with a bad Oline and more possession type WRs, rarely attacking multiple levels with route combinations.

Mckinnie is basically saying the same there in you have to be able to adjust coaching to fit the available talent, sometimes a coach can have an excellent system but without the right blend of personnel it means nothing.

[jdynamite]

I just hope they get this all together in this bye week. And we come out next week versus Cleveland with a strong performance. I had high expectations for Rice and Pierce this year. I thought they'd combine for 1700-2000 rushing yards. 7 games into the season and they haven't even combined for 500 yards yet.

I'm looking forward to seeing an improved run game the rest of the season.

[Jokerraven]

What boggles the mind is why stick with it 7 games into the season ? It was obvious to anyone, even someone with little football knowledge like myself that things weren't working . Any job ,you institute changes and they don't work if you don't change them back you don't have a job .I'm not advocating anyone losing there job it just  doesn't make sense to me. GIno is playing better and I think if they go back to what works we could turn this season around. I really thought Ko would make the probowl this year but I don't see any of our guys making it save Torrey if he can continue playing like he has.

[3-4ravdef509]

If it isn't broke.... completely abandon it and try to do something different for 9 weeks till it works...

[baltravens]

McKinnie, just a rather disappointing player, dedication and commitment were lacking. Can you imagine if he took the game more seriously?

[GrimCoconut]

I get the idea behind why fix a wheel that works fine, but then again why not improve the wheel if you can? I understand the argument to not fix what's not broken but perhaps what Castillo wanted to do would've been ultimately for the best but the players aren't capable of executing it? That's not his fault.

It's clear he's probably a bit too ambitious and I'm absolutely not happy with the OL performance so far but there's nothing wrong with trying to make things better.

[Poes Crows]

Its just a bad brew.

 

It's not solely the Castillo's new scheme.

 

It's Matt Birk missing

It's Osemele and Yanda nicked up

It's Gradkowski first time at center

It's Ray Rice playing hurt

It's Receivers that are unreliable

It's a secondary, safeties especially, that are vulnerable

It's a run defense that really isn't improved

It wasn't Bryant McKinnie

 

I'll be stunned, (happily), if we go 5-1 in the next 6 games.

That would make us 8-5 heading into:

 

@Detroit

New England

@Cincinnati

 

Wow, we'll have to go 5-1 heading into those last three

[Jokerraven]

Its just a bad brew.

 

It's not solely the Castillo's new scheme.

 

It's Matt Birk missing

It's Osemele and Yanda nicked up

It's Gradkowski first time at center

It's Ray Rice playing hurt

It's Receivers that are unreliable

It's a secondary, safeties especially, that are vulnerable

It's a run defense that really isn't improved

It wasn't Bryant McKinnie

 

I'll be stunned, (happily), if we go 5-1 in the next 6 games.

That would make us 8-5 heading into:

 

@Detroit

New England

@Cincinnati

 

Wow, we'll have to go 5-1 heading into those last three

well said .

[Hardbaugh]

Apologies for not reading the whole thread but I thought I read  McKinnie raved about this guy during the spring?

[rmw10]

I don't know if it's already been said, because I honestly don't feel like going back and reading this thread lol.  But I don't think the issue is with the ZBS as much as it is that we don't have the players to fit the ZBS.  We have primarily mauler type guys on our line, which isn't the best transition into the ZBS.

 

McKinnie wasn't near quick enough for the ZBS.

Osemele is a mauler.

Gradkowski is even a bit of a mauler.

Yanda is a mauler.

Oher is probably the only guy that really fit the ZBS.

[jaege]

Honestly I believe one of the  reasons why our o-line played so great through out the playoffs and super bowl was because of the help of Juan Castillo. I guess he overall wanted to take his teaching to a whole new level but right now it isn't working and honestly it happens. 

 

Castillo has a great history as  a o-line coach some times even the greatest teachers mess up or have to realize the way they taught in the past with one group will have to be different  for the next group but sometimes that  can be hard. The reason why it can be hard because some times as a teacher/coach they get so used to how great they taught in the past/being recognize as great coach/teacher  to the point they figure theres no way they  should change up their coaching style.

 

So he is so egotistical and arrogant based upon past success (?), that he cannot believe that he is doing something wrong? Not really the makings of a great teacher or coach (considering he has no past success to speak of). So where is this greatness you speak of? I do not recall the Eagles winning any SBs during his tenure there. In fact I do not recall them even making the playoffs. Their O-line has been a joke for years.I am not seeing any greatness. I cannot say that I have followed his career, so maybe I am missing something. You will need to sight some examples.

[The Raven]

So uh.. watching this NEvsMiami game and McKinnie's looking pretty good. Seems like scheme was a huge issue for him here. He's actually getting a good bit of push, more than I've ever seen him get in Baltimore. He's killing it in Miami's man scheme.

[jimmypowder]

Seems to me that Castillo is more of a problem than we thought. I do respect the reasons they brought him here for. He's phenomenal at developing young linemen. He is undoubtedly a great teacher. He's just doing too much right now.

Change for the mere sake of change is moronic.Why change schemes that were working so well the latter half of last season?

 

Yes we have some oline injuries in the middle but that does not diminish the fact that Castillo has made some moves that

did not need to be made .

[jimmypowder]

I get the idea behind why fix a wheel that works fine, but then again why not improve the wheel if you can? I understand the argument to not fix what's not broken but perhaps what Castillo wanted to do would've been ultimately for the best but the players aren't capable of executing it? That's not his fault.

It's clear he's probably a bit too ambitious and I'm absolutely not happy with the OL performance so far but there's nothing wrong with trying to make things better.

I agree,but he did not make things better.He make them worse.

[TwinRivers]

Change for the mere sake of change is moronic.Why change schemes that were working so well the latter half of last season?

 

Yes we have some oline injuries in the middle but that does not diminish the fact that Castillo has made some moves that

did not need to be made .

McKinnie admitted his dislike for Castillo's system so he was probably the source or instigator of a possible rebellion. Bring in Monroe who should/would be glad to be here and be open to learning something new. With a week rest our O line will hopefully heal. We will be shed of the rebel and his influence. Not really bashing Big Mac. I was his best supporter for rehire but it didn't work out. He is very near the end of his career, looking for a nice contract but didn't get it. He always wanted Miami. He can still play when he wants to.

[jimmypowder]

[quote name="TwinRivers" post="1642089" timestamp="1382908511"] McKinnie admitted his dislike for Castillo's system so he was probably the source or instigator of a possible rebellion. Bring in Monroe who should/would be glad to be here and be open to learning something new. With a week rest our O line will hopefully heal. We will be shed of the rebel and his influence. Not really bashing Big Mac. I was his best supporter for rehire but it didn't work out. He is very near the end of his career, looking for a nice contract but didn't get it. He always wanted Miami. He can still play when he wants to.[/quote] He looked pretty good playing for Miami today , though I'm watching Red Zone so didn't watch his whole game .

[Tank 92]

He looked pretty good playing for Miami today , though I'm watching Red Zone so didn't watch his whole game .

 

 

Miami scored 0 in the 2nd half. Not sure how Mac did.

[Bltravens]

He looked pretty good playing for Miami today , though I'm watching Red Zone so didn't watch his whole game .

He was the direct cause of a strip sack recovered by NE because he inexplicably down blocked on the LG's man and failed to pick up the outside rush.  No it was not the HB responsibility because he stepped up to take on the inside blitzer.  

[jazz1988]

So he is so egotistical and arrogant based upon past success (?), that he cannot believe that he is doing something wrong? Not really the makings of a great teacher or coach (considering he has no past succ(ess to speak of). So where is this greatness you speak of? I do not recall the Eagles winning any SBs during his tenure there. In fact I do not recall them even making the playoffs. Their O-line has been a joke for years.I am not seeing any greatness. I cannot say that I have followed his career, so maybe I am missing something. You will need to sight some examples.

 

What does winning a super bowl have to do with him being a good coach or not ? The eagles definitely made the playoffs when he was there(2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009) link . In 2010 with the help of Juan Castillo  " Philadelphia's offense set franchise records in total points (439), total net yards (6,230), and yards per rush (5.4, the NFL's top mark).With each of the team's primary running backs averaging more than 5.0 yards per attempt, the Eagles became the first team in NFL history to average at least 4.0 yards per carry in all 16 regular season games, helping LT Jason Peters earn his second-straight Pro Bowl nod"  ( I got this information from the coaches section on Baltimoreravens.com) 

 

In the  years 2009 and 2010 the offense line didn't perform well  in pass protection but in 2008 Quarterback Donovan Mcnabb was only sacked  23 times ( that's not bad at all ) link. I may be wrong but I don't think the ravens o-line ever allowed 23 sacks  in Flacco era

[TwinRivers]

He looked pretty good playing for Miami today , though I'm watching Red Zone so didn't watch his whole game .

I didn't see it either but I'm sure he did well. I was one of his biggest supporters for rehire however I believe in zone blocking. Once during a game Ray Rice lobbied to go to the inside zone run which was then used very successfully. My point was Big Mac's inability to adjust to it and injuries made it impossible to implement zone blocking. With Monroe at left tackle we are more versatile now.