Zachary Orr (born June 9, 1992) is an American professional

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coach and former

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who is the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

of the

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(NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Ravens from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2023 as the inside linebackers coach. He was also the outside linebackers coach for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

in 2021. Orr played

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and signed with the Ravens as an

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in 2014. He played for three seasons in the NFL.

Playing career

Orr was signed by the

as an

in 2014. He made the 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie and finished second on the team with 7 special teams tackles. Orr began the 2016 season as the Ravens starting weak-side linebacker, and sealed a win over the

in Week 3 with an interception in the waning seconds. He started all 15 games he played in, recording 132 tackles, five passes defended, three interceptions, and a forced fumble. He was placed on injured reserve on December 30, 2016, prior to the season finale. He was named second-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

after the 2016 season. Orr announced his retirement from the NFL on January 20, 2017 due to a congenital neck/spine condition that ended his season. On June 28, 2017, Orr announced on ''

Good Morning Football ''Good Morning Football'' is a live NFL morning television program on NFL Network. The program premiered on Monday, August 1, 2016. It airs from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET. The program is hosted by Kyle Brandt, Jamie Erdahl, and Akbar Gbaja-Biamil ...

'' that he would be coming out of retirement and return to football after receiving encouraging diagnoses about the congenital spinal condition. Orr was set to be a restricted free agent in 2017, but the Ravens never placed a tender on him since they assumed he would retire, therefore making Orr an unrestricted free agent. After visiting with six teams and talking with 11 others, no team would sign him due to his spinal condition and herniated disc. He officially announced his retirement for a second time on August 18, 2017.

NFL career statistics

;Regular season

Coaching career

Baltimore Ravens (first stint)

On August 30, 2017, Orr began his coaching career and was hired by the

as a defensive analyst under head coach

John Harbaugh John William Harbaugh ( ; born September 23, 1962) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia ...

. This came 12 days after announcing his second retirement.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On February 11, 2021, Orr was hired by the

as their outside linebackers coach under head coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and former college football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green F ...

Baltimore Ravens (second stint)

On February 23, 2022, Orr was hired by the Ravens as their inside linebackers coach under head coach John Harbaugh. On February 1, 2024, Orr was promoted to defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, replacing

Mike Macdonald Michael Macdonald (born June 26, 1987) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the B ...

after his departure to become the head coach of the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

Personal life

Orr is the son of former

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

tight end Terry Orr. He has three brothers, all of whom have played college football: older brother Terrance, who played at Texas State, younger brother

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, who played at

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and youngest brother

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

, who played at

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and is now a coach after playing in the NFL and USFL. Orr was born with a rare spinal condition where his C-1 vertebrae, the one located at the top of his neck below his skull, was not fully developed. It was revealed that if Orr took a bad hit, the C-1 could explode and may result in death. This promptly forced Orr to retire from professional football after his third season, coming off a breakout season where he led the Ravens in tackles and earned second-team All-Pro in 2016.

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Zach 1992 births Living people African-American coaches of American football American football linebackers Baltimore Ravens coaches Baltimore Ravens players Jacksonville Jaguars coaches NFL defensive coordinators North Texas Mean Green football players Players of American football from Texas Players of American football from Loudoun County, Virginia Players of American football from DeSoto, Texas 21st-century African-American sportsmen Coaches of American football from Virginia