Cam Cameron will be back in Baltimore for at least another season.



The Ravens announced Friday that Cameron will return after already serving as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator for four years.

“Cam has been our offensive coordinator, will continue to be our offensive coordinator,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “I think our coaches did a tremendous job this year.”

Cameron’s contract was set to expire this offseason. Harbaugh did not provide any specifics about the new deal.

“It was a forgone conclusion to me,” Harbaugh said about Cameron returning. “If you look at the way our offense played this year and that job our players did on offense and our coaches did, I was excited about it.”

Cam Cameron Thrilled To Return

“I was never gone,” Cameron added. “After the season is over, everybody goes through evaluation. …We’re all being evaluated and the opportunity to negotiate a contract was a process that had taken place and obviously it happened right after the season.”

Cameron’s return will keep some continuity among the Ravens’ assistant coaches. Baltimore lost Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano to the Colts this offseason, but Cameron will be back to lead the offense that came within seconds of reaching the Super Bowl.

Under Cameron in 2011, the Ravens finished the season ranked 15th in total yards, 19th in passing and 10th in rushing. They finished fourth in the AFC in scoring.

“It was a good year,” Harbaugh said. “We turned a lot of things over as an offense.”

The passing game is an area that Cameron recognizes as an opportunity for improvement, but he also emphasized that they made strides in that area with a new receiving corps.

Anquan Boldin was the only starting wide receiver the Ravens had back from the 2010 season, and they ushered in young players like Torrey Smith, Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta.

“We’ve got to get better, as we saw as the year goes along, with just the chemistry in the passing game, which will come,” Cameron said. “If it was easy for all new guys just to light it up in the passing game, then everybody would do it every year. But I think you saw progress.”

Cameron coached the quarterbacks this season, and Joe Flacco finished the year with 3,610 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. Harbaugh said it has not yet been determined if Cameron will coach the quarterbacks again next season.

“We’ll see where all that goes down the line,” Harbaugh said when asked if they are planning to bring in a quarterbacks coach. “That’s a possibility.”

The Ravens rank in the middle of the NFL in a number of offensive categories, but they also faced some of the toughest competition in the league. Baltimore played eight of the NFL’s top 10 defenses – the only two they didn’t face were the Eagles and their own – and 11 of their 16 games came against those top 10 units.

“We went against some pretty decent defenses, so at times it was like we had a couple games where we didn’t play well,” Cameron said. “But we finished strong.”

Cameron has faced criticism from fans and the media at times, but he understands that is part of the job as an offensive coordinator.

“I know that goes with the territory,” Cameron said. “When you’re the offensive play caller and everyone can evaluate run or pass, and who should have had it thrown to them, that really is where the interest of this game is. People aren’t really sitting around second-guessing a ton of other stuff.

“Criticism is part of the game. It goes with the coordinator. It goes with the quarterbacks.”

The Ravens had four Pro Bowlers on offense – right guard Marshal Yanda, fullback Vonta Leach, running back Ray Rice and left guard Ben Grubbs.

Now, Cameron hopes he is able to build on some of the successes of last season.

“We’ve got to go out and prove ourselves every week,” Cameron said. “We’re excited about getting that opportunity next year.”