Greg Lewis steps into contentious spot with Baltimore Ravens

Former Chiefs assistant coach Greg Lewis picked an interesting (and particularly troubling) spot to coach for the next year.

At the end of the 2022 regular season, the Kansas City Chiefs knew some changes were likely coming to the coaching staff. Former offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy had reached the end of his contract, and the vibes were strong that he would find a new venture—even if he’d unfairly been passed over so many times for head coaching roles in previous years. From there, it only made sense that the Chiefs would also be raided by other teams given their run of recent success.

Interestingly, Chiefs assistant coach Greg Lewis decided he wanted to be a part of the exodus.

Lewis had expressed a desire in the last year or more to expand his base of coaching knowledge and experience on the offensive side to give him greater opportunity going forward. Lewis himself was a longtime wide receiver at the NFL level, including several years with Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles, and he continued to use that expertise to coach the same position from 2012 to 2020—first at the collegiate level before settling in with Reid’s staff at the same position.

In 2021, however, Lewis shifted to coach the team’s running backs. For the last two years, he’s served as the positional coach there to learn the ropes and bolster his resume for a future coordinator spot. It’s impossible to separate the layers of what impacts a player, but Isiah Pacheco’s success this year reflects positively on everyone—including Lewis.

This spring, however, Lewis apparently was ready to take the next step in developing a greater platform and that meant leaving the comfortable nest of the Chiefs. When Bieniemy took a job with the Washington Commanders, Lewis was reportedly considering an offer to join him there. In the end, however, Lewis landed with another consistently successful team in the AFC: the Baltimore Ravens.

Typically, the ability to work with a storied coach like John Harbaugh and a well-run franchise like the Ravens would be a golden opportunity, but for this point in time for Baltimore, it’s actually quite contentious. And that could make things very interesting (to put it mildly) for Lewis in 2023.

Lamar Jackson’s free agency is the single biggest NFL storyline on this side of the Jets and Packers wrapping up details on an Aaron Rodgers trade. Will the Ravens bring him back? Why aren’t other teams in the mix for the former MVP? Can Jackson get the money he wants?

The Ravens’ offense is miserable without Jackson. Late last year, fans were chanting “Fire Greg Roman” at last year’s offensive coordinator when things weren’t going well offensively during another injury stint for Jackson. Even players were venting their frustration at the offensive choices as well.

Roman and the Ravens did part ways when the offseason began, and the offensive staff was remade under Todd Monken, a former OC for the Buccaneers and Browns who has served at the University of Georgia for the last few years. Under Monken, Harbaugh added a few new faces including Lewis, who will coach the team’s wide receivers.

But here’s where even that role is frustrating: they lack playmakers at the position. Remember, the Ravens traded Hollywood Brown a year ago to the Arizona Cardinals in a draft-day deal. Rashod Bateman is a former first-round pick who has never played like one (although the Ravens’ offensive set-up isn’t exactly going to produce the sort of numbers that draw interested parties). Still, Bateman has been a bust and Devin Duvernay, Tylan Wallace, and James Proche aren’t going to strike fear in the heart of any defensive coordinator.

Bateman even recently made news after blasting Ravens’ general manager Eric DeCosta. Of course, DeCosta’s comments didn’t help any of the tension around the offense. When asked about the team’s methods of scouting wide receivers, he said:

"“If I had an answer, that would probably mean I would have some better receivers,” DeCosta said. “We’re going to keep swinging. There have been some guys that have been successful players for us that were draft picks. We’ve never really hit on that All-Pro type of guy, which is disappointing, but it’s not for a lack of effort. … It’s one of those anomalies that I really can’t explain, other than to say that we’re not going to stop trying.”"

So yeah, Bateman took exception at being the obvious example of the organization’s frustrations at the position.

This is what makes things so combustible for Lewis. His best player is a frustrated former first-round pick who has yet to produce anything memorable or meaningful, yet he’s also stifled by an offense that really won’t let anyone shine in the passing game. Beyond that, the team’s own general manager confesses he doesn’t know how to approach the position while casting shade on those who he has already acquired.

In other words, Lewis is tasked with coaching lesser players in a production-stifling system for a team hanging its quarterback out to dry with no real hopes of landing quality new talent because free agents don’t want to play there and the GM doesn’t know how to draft them.

Of all the places Lewis could have gone this offseason, Baltimore sounds like an odd choice. It’s certainly one of the most difficult.