Both the Ravens and Steelers are building a new coaching staff this year, but Baltimore scored the biggest assistant name. According to Ravens beat writer Jeff Zrebiec, the team has a verbal agreement with OL coach Dwayne Ledford. Made available due to a questionable decision by Kevin Stefanski, he was a hot name on the assistant market.

Nothing finalized with Ravens asst. coaches yet, but a strong candidate to join Jesse Minter’s new staff is OL coach Dwayne Ledford. His work as Falcons run game coordinator/OL coach was widely praised last year. He became available when Kevin Stefanski brought in Bill Callahan.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) January 26, 2026

Ledford, 49, is a former NFL center with a 21-year coaching career, now heading to the Ravens. Having worked in college and NFL Europe, he earned his first NFL job in 2021. Thus far, he has spent his entire career with the Atlanta Falcons, brought in by former Steelers OC Arthur Smith while the head coach of the Falcons.

Now Stefanski, the former head coach of the Browns, is in Atlanta. And he wanted to bring over Bill Callahan, who is a very respected OL coach in his own right. But the Falcons had a good thing going with Ledford, by all accounts, and now the Ravens will benefit.

The Falcons’ run game was slow to come along in Smith’s first season, which was also QB Matt Ryan’s last. In 2022, they ranked third in the NFL in rushing yards with 17 rushing touchdowns. They finished in the top 10 again a year later. And that continued the past two seasons under Raheem Morris as head coach.

The Ravens have been the NFL’s most elite rushing team for the better part of a decade, and Dwayne Ledford will lean into that. He employed a two-back system in Atlanta, and he can do that in Baltimore. Derrick Henry is obviously the focal point, but a healthy Keaton Mitchell is a powerful counterpunch. And a healthy QB Lamar Jackson would make a world of difference, too.

As of this writing, the Ravens haven’t made any deals official, other than hiring Jesse Minter as head coach. The Steelers recently went out of character to announce a “verbal agreement” with Mike McCarthy, but Baltimore hasn’t done that. Zrebiec is solid, though, and Adam Schefter corroborated the Ravens’ verbal agreement with Dwayne Ledford yesterday.

Baltimore Ravens are expected to hire former Falcons run game coordinator/OL coach Dwayne Ledford for the same job and title, per source.

Ledford was with the Falcons since 2021, and helped lead a run game that finished in the top 10 in rushing the past three seasons.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 27, 2026

Last season, Baltimore ranked second in the NFL in rushing yards, third in touchdowns, and first in yards per carry. And it managed to do that without a great year from Jackson, who has had multiple 1,000-yard seasons.

According to Zrebiec, the Ravens have “several” verbal agreements with assistant coaches, including Ledford. He also said that they intend to retain some of John Harbaugh’s staff, blocking him from bringing them with him. Now the Giants’ head coach, he is yet another name building a coaching staff.

The Steelers are, too, and thus far, all they have is Mike McCarthy. Will they bring back Pat Meyer to continue his work with their young offensive linemen? Did they miss the boat—to the rival Ravens, no less—on Ledford?