When Art Modell hired Ted Marchibroda to be the first head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, Ozzie Newsome, then the team’s vice president of player personnel, asked Marchibroda what kind of players he wanted him to draft and sign.
“Tough, passionate guys who loved to play,” Marchbroda told him.
That simple, yet incredibly astute answer is still the mantra of Ozzie’s personnel staff today.
Marchibroda was a wise man and in my opinion one of the most underrated coaches in NFL history. Tough and passionate himself, he coached the Baltimore Colts to three straight division championships in the mid 1970’s and learned very quickly in his time in the NFL that you don’t win championships without talented players.