Ravens Fire Cam Cameron, Promote Former Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell To Offensive Coordinator

Big news out of Baltimore that has more than a few connections to the Indianapolis Colts. Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron has been fired, and replacing him is former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell.

Caldwell was the head man in Indianapolis from 2009-2012. He was fired by first-year general manager Ryan Grigson in January even though, reportedly, Grigson was open to the idea of retaining Caldwell as Colts head coach if former Rams coach Steve Spanguolo had accepted the job of defensive coordinator in Indy. Spanuolo declined the job and took one offered by the New Orleans Saints. Caldwell was fired shortly thereafter and replaced by Chuck Pagano, who was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens last year.

To make things even more interesting, it's been rumored that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Tomlin were interested in hiring Caldwell to replace their offensive coordinator, a guy named Bruce Arians. Arians supposedly had a falling out with the Steelers ownership, and was forced to "retire" after the 2011 season. He eventually "unretired" a short time later and took a job in Indianapolis as Pagano's OC. Since Pagano's leukemia diagnosis was made public October 1st, Arians has acted as both the OC and the interim head coach for the Colts.

As for Caldwell, he reportedly met with Tomlin in January, but the job eventually went to former Kansas City head coach Todd Haley. Caldwell took a job as quarterbacks coach with the Ravens. Prior to Caldwell's head coaching stint with the Colts, he was the team's QB coach from 2002-2008.

Kind of a crazy six degrees, isn't it?

The news of a potential coaching change in Baltimore was first reported by Dan Patrick of NBC Sports this morning, but the thought was Don Pees, the man who replaced Pagano in Baltimore as DC, would get the ax. Baltimore's defense choked away an 8 point fourth quarter lead on Sunday, and lost in overtime to the Washington Redskins.

For Caldwell, this promotion is a big opportunity for him. He was long regarding as little more than a figurehead coach, with the Colts then-vice chairman Bill Polian and his son, general manager Chris Polian, micromanaging everything he did and said. If Caldwell can get the Ravens offense to play more consistently (aka, RUN RAY RICE MORE!), it will improve the negative perception regarding his coaching skills.

To swing this all the way back around and focus not on the 2011 Colts, but the present team, Baltimore is 9-4 and seems poised to win the AFC North. Should the Colts retain their current playoff status (5th seed), they would play the Ravens in Baltimore in the first round of post-season play. This game would be a homecoming for Pagano, as well as players Cory Redding and Tom Zbikowski. For Caldwell, he would be coaching against his old team.

This was a bold move for the Ravens. Maybe even a tad desperate. It will be very interesting to see how Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco responds to it. He was, reportedly, a big proponent of Cameron.