The author of that article made it sound like the Ravens have Top 10 talent on offense and it's a valid expectation for them to have a Top 10 offense. That's just stupid. Anyway, the key point to look at is how he said: "To his credit, Cameron has made the Ravens' offense much better than what it was under former coach Brian Billick." (note that Brian Billick, after being named the offensive coordinator of Utah State University , improved the second-worst offense in Division I-A into a top-10 offense in only three seasons.) And Cam made the offense much better despite, as the author pointed out, "Joe Flacco has been too inconsistent. Ray Rice isn't being used enough. ... Flacco looked like a top-five quarterback one week and a bottom-five one the next. ... the lack of touches for Rice" So, if LSU sees a "much better" offense with Cam, even if we have inconsistent QB play and don't run the ball enough....I'll be be happy (and i did think we had inconsisent QB play and passed way too much last year, i think its because Mett consisently looks awesome in practice so we keep passing too much with him expecting him to be great...same with Ravens, Flacco did turn out to be great down the stretch...he had an astonishing 117.2 QB rating in the playoffs with 11 TD and 0 INT)
If another school had hired Cam, what do you think would be said about Les? This is a great hire, the first year Les at LSU, Bo and Jimbo, gonna be a fun year.
Washington Post: "You're too smart to coach. You're not coaching," Cameron recalls Knight saying. "You're going to law school. ... You get your law degree and after that we'll talk about you coaching." ... But Knight originally thought Cameron meant he wanted to coach basketball, which seemed logical. Cameron was born in Chapel Hill, N.C., home of the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a high schooler, Cameron took his high school team to the Indiana state Final Four, was hailed as one of the top players in the state and eventually was honored by the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. And after deciding to help Cameron realize his coaching dream, Knight's first call wasn't to Schembechler, but to Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith. "If I hadn't said anything, I'd probably be coaching basketball right now," Cameron said. ... San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers, who starred in Cameron's offense with the Chargers, where the new Dolphins coach spent the past five seasons turning San Diego into an offensive juggernaut (said about Cam) "He has a great understanding of the game in all phases." ... "He's a great motivator" ... " He really has the demeanor about him that exudes a lot of confidence." With one look at Cameron's resume, it's easy to see where that confidence comes from. He's either played for, worked with or studied under some great coaches, including Knight, Schembechler, Marty Schottenheimer with the Chargers, Lee Corso and Sam Wyche at Indiana, even former Dallas coach Tom Landry. ... "You won't find three tougher men, guys that are mentally tough, than you would of Bo Schembechler, Bob Knight and Marty Schottenheimer," Cameron said. "It's a tough business, whether it be pro football or big-time college basketball. ... To be able to be tutored by those men, I don't think it can get any better than that." ...
Randle-El on Cam: BTN.com: Does playing for guys like Cam Cameron and Bobby Knight prepare you for the next level? Randle El: Yes, indeed. It brings the best out of you. You have to think about this– I’ve played for a Hall of Fame coach in Coach Bobby Knight, a Hall of Fame coach in Coach Joe Gibbs in Washington, a Hall of Fame – or soon-to- be Hall of Fame – coach in Bill Cowher, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Cam Cameron was a Hall of Fame coach as well someday.
HOFer Isiah Thomas on Cam: Knicks coach Isiah Thomas was a basketball teammate of Cam Cameron at Indiana while playing for Bobby Knight. “He played basketball and football also,” Thomas told reporters at Monday morning’s shootaround before the Knicks-Heat game in Miami. “That’s why he’s offensive-minded. Really, I think the things that he’s able to apply from basketball to football gives him a great offensive mind. “He’s a great play-caller. And he’s a good guy. He’s a work-a-holic"
The Ravens had middle of the pack talent on offense at best Now go look what Cam did with the Dolphins, a team with top third talent.... Also: Harbaugh and Flacco praised Cameron during Super Bowl week and Harbaugh promised him a Super Bowl ring. "In my mind, he is definitely going to get a ring," Harbaugh said after the victory. "He deserves a ring."
Ravens Q&A with offensive coordinator Cam Cameron November 23, 2010, The Baltimore Sun Question: What's the most difficult part about being the offensive coordinator? Answer: I never looked at anything being real difficult other than going against great defensive coordinators and veteran defensive players. I would say going against veteran NFL defensive players because they know you, they study you, you very seldom can fool them, there's not many plays that they haven't seen. Linebackers like Ray Lewis, Zach Thomas, those guys, veteran safeties like Rodney Harrison — all of those players are so smart and so good that they make it really hard for you to move the football Q: How tough has it been to keep all of the players happy in terms of sharing the football? A: I don't know that it's ever easy because defenses don't make it easy. I think you see it play out across the league. ... I believe in doing everything you can to get everybody involved. I grew up playing with Larry Bird all the way through high school, and the thing that I learned from Larry Bird — and you saw he and Magic Johnson, probably two of the greats of all time, do this — is, getting everybody involved. I've watched that play out, and I think that's my job. ... We have plays in every game plan for every guy. Does it always work? No. Defenses can take a guy away, but... Over the course of time, we should be able to keep everybody involved, and I try to make sure that every guy is going to get an opportunity in a critical situation to help us win the game. Does it always work? No. ... Q: During last week's radio program, coach John Harbaugh said that Joe Flacco has the ability to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage. Is that a recent development or something he's had at his disposal for a while? A: Actually, we probably did more of that during his rookie year because we were a no-huddle team during his rookie year. But now, people are attacking Joe differently. People didn't disguise defenses for a year- and-a-half against Joe. ... But now, people have gone to a disguise. Without getting too tactical, we have stuff built into everything we're doing. Everybody would be very surprised if they knew all of the options and decisions that Joe is making while he's out there. We're just not going to let everybody know what we're doing. Q: When you are crafting the game plan for the week, what's the process? Do you run it by John Harbaugh? Ultimately, do you have the final say...? A: It evolves...We have a coordinators' meeting on Tuesday night, and then we kind of collectively come together. I get to hear what [defensive coordinator] Greg [Mattison] is thinking, I get to hear what [assistant head coach and special teams coordinator] Jerry [Rosburg] is thinking, and I kind of give them how I see it. And then we blend it all together. That's the starting point. And then things kind of evolve as the week goes on, and it can evolve all the way up to game time based on who they have active or inactive, a change in weather. It is truly a fluid situation, but there's great communication here. We're all on the same page. John gives us tremendous input of the opposing team's defense because he comes from that defensive perspective, and yet he knows offense , he knows our system, he knows it inside and out. We're all working together. We get a lot of feedback from our defensive coaches every week. Everybody's involved. And then our players, this is the best group of players I've been around for input. We get input from [wide receiver] Derrick [Mason], from Q [wide receiver Anquan Boldin], from (center) Matt [Birk], from [wide receiver] T.J. [Houshmandzadeh], from [running back] Willis [McGahee], from [tight end] Todd [Heap]. Those guys, we ask them for their input, and we get a lot of input during the week from them and even during games. ... Q: Fair or unfair, you only had one season as a head coach. Do you aspire to become a head coach again? A: Some day, but that some day is not today. I'm not sure which job I enjoy more. I enjoy both differently. I really enjoy being an offensive coordinator. I want to be the best offensive coordinator that I can possibly be. Some coordinator jobs in this league are better than head coaching jobs. There are some head coaching job that are probably better than coordinator jobs, but not every head coaching job in this league is better than an offensive coordinator's job for the Baltimore Ravens. ... Q: Who is the toughest defensive coordinator you've faced in the NFL? A: There have been a lot of great defensive coordinators over the years. Going against New England is tough. Pittsburgh. But if you said I could only pick one, there's five or six that are really close, but I would have to say — I've gone against Buddy Ryan, I've gone against Rex and Rob, but I don't think anybody would fault me with this choice — Jim Johnson [the late Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator]. He's one of the great coordinators in the history of this league. Q: Why Jim Johnson? A: Some guys can disguise, but they can't attack. Some guys can attack, but they can't disguise. He could disguise and attack, and those are the defenses that give you problems. The teams that can disguise their intentions and attack are the ones that are the most difficult.
seems to have a pretty good offensive line, ray rice and nice set of receivers. cam didn't do too well with dolphins. so i don't know what the point is???
Saban didn't do too well with the Dolphins, and Cam had to clean up Saban's mess. Go look at Saban's success during his four years as NFL DC and its a mirror image of Cam's success during Cam's first 4 years as an NFL OC. Saban comes to the NCAA and dominates, while Cam stays as an NFL OC for 6 more years than Saban, more than doubling Saban in experience coaching and matching wits with the best of the best. And now Cam is coming to the NCAA and Saban's life just got a lot more difficult...
From a good Jun 17, 2011 article by Ryan Mink of http://www.baltimoreravens.com ...(Cam's background features) a who's who of coaching and playing brilliance that would mold Cameron into one of the most highly- regarded offensive minds in the game ... "He's learned from some of the best in the business." ... Cameron would ride with Harp to the Indiana State coaching offices every day during the summer. He practically lived there from 7th grade through high school. ... A coach by the name of Bobby Turner took Cameron under his wing. At 13 years old, Cameron would watch tape, read coaching how-to books, flip through the team's playbook. He began sitting in on meetings and helping run practice drills. "He was asking questions that the players were asking me, or questions coaches would ask other coaches," said Turner, now a 19- year NFL running backs coach with the Redskins. "They were very intelligent questions." ... When Cameron's high school football coach, the late Bob Clements, told his assistants that he was going to start letting Cameron call his own plays as a sophomore quarterback, they were naturally a bit taken aback. ... As a quarterback, Cameron was a two-time All-State selection and All-American as a senior. As a point guard, he led South Vigo High's basketball team to three consecutive state finals. ... Cameron decided to play at Indiana, which then employed some of the most-respected coaches of its time. ... Lee Corso, who is now mostly seen as a funny-man ESPN college football analyst, but was an excellent coach for a decade at Indiana. Sam Wyche...fresh off winning a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers. Wyche, who later became known as the guru of the no-huddle offense, taught Cameron the West Coast offense. "He opened my mind to creativity," Cameron said. Cameron also played basketball at Indiana, which meant he was mentored by legendary coach Bobby Knight. ... On a recommendation from Knight, Cameron got a job as a graduate assistant at Michigan under Bo Schembechler ... In 1985, Cameron was named Michigan's quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. The first quarterback he ever coached was Jim Harbaugh, current San Francisco 49ers head coach ... In their first year together, Harbaugh became the NCAA's most efficient quarterback. Michigan won the Fiesta Bowl that season and reached the Rose Bowl the next. Harbaugh became a first-round draft pick and eventually played 15 years in the NFL. "Even though he was so young, he was as good as any coach I ever had in my whole playing career," Harbaugh unequivocally said. ... Soon, he was coaching future NFL quarterbacks Elvis Grbac and Todd Collins. The NFL came calling in 1994, and Cameron helped steer Gus Frerotte and Trent Green each to Pro Bowls with the Washington Redskins. After a stint as head coach at his alma mater of Indiana, Cameron headed west to San Diego to coach under the well-respected offensive mind of Marty Schottenheimer. There, Cameron groomed Drew Brees and Philip Rivers, two of today's top quarterbacks. ... "He's one of the best coaches in America," said Scot Loeffler, another of Cameron's quarterbacks at Michigan who is now the offensive coordinator at Temple. "If my son ever grows into a quarterback, I'd want Cam to coach him." ...
