Despite interviewing multiple other candidates for the job, the Ravens are expected to hire Keary Colbert as their next wide receivers coach, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.
Colbert, 43, held the same position in Denver for the last three years. He spent two seasons working with new Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and tight ends coach Zack Grossi on Sean Payton’s staff. Prior to that, Colbert served in a variety of roles at the college level, including two stints at USC totaling eight years.
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Colbert played the position he now coaches for six NFL seasons, starting as a Panthers second-round pick in 2004. He finished his rookie year with 47 catches for 754 receiving yards and five touchdowns, but never returned to those heights for the rest of his career. He finished his playing career in 2011, by which time he had already begun as a graduate assistant at USC.
Jobs at Pace Academy (2012), Georgia State (2013), and Alabama (2014-2015) followed before Colbert returned to USC. He served as the Trojans’ offensive quality control assistant (2016-2017), tight ends and inside receivers coach (2018), and wide receivers coach (2019-2021). After a year as Florida’s WRs coach, he moved to the NFL to join the Broncos.
Colbert has primarily worked with receivers and tight ends during his coaching career, making him somewhat of a pass-catching specialist. He has directly coached a number of notable NFL players in his career with connections to several more. They include:
Jordan Cameron (TE, USC) *
Albert Wilson (WR, Georgia State) *
Amari Cooper (WR, Alabama)
O.J. Howard (TE, Alabama)
JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR, USC)
Michael Pittman (WR, USC) *
Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR, USC) *
Ricky Pearsall (WR, Florida) *
Courtland Sutton (WR, Broncos) *
Troy Franklin (WR, Broncos) *
Marvin Mims (WR, Broncos) *
Note: * denotes direct oversight as a position coach
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At USC, Colbert also worked closely ex-Ravens quarterbacks coach Tee Martin and current Ravens assistant WRs coach Prentice Gill. Martin was the Trojans’ offensive coordinator at the time, while Gill was starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant.
Gill also interviewed for the Ravens’ WRs coach job and reportedly received support to get that promotion from players, per CBS Baltimore’s Alex Glaze. Colbert was chosen instead, but Gill is still a candidate to retain his position on Baltimore’s new coaching staff.