Owings Mills, MD (Sports Network) - The Baltimore Ravens have fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and elevated quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell to the position.
Head coach John Harbaugh's decision comes one day after the Ravens lost their second straight game. Baltimore came up short on Sunday in a 31-28 overtime setback at Washington after dropping a 23-20 decision to Pittsburgh last week.
"My charge -- our responsibility as a coaching staff -- is to maximize the opportunities for our team to win, and we can still reach all of our goals for this season," said Harbaugh in a statement Monday. "We have a motto we follow on this team: W.I.N. -- What's Important Now -- and what's important now is to find ways to get better, win the AFC North and advance to the playoffs."
The Ravens are 9-4 and still own a two-game lead over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the AFC North with three weeks remaining.
"We are going to make the most of our opportunities going forward, and this change gives us a better possibility to achieve our goals," Harbaugh added. "It's not about fair or unfair, right or wrong. My responsibility is to the whole team and what's best for them right now. We need a change. Our plan and our goals are to win games, win our division and get to the playoffs."
Baltimore has been in the middle of the pack in total offense for much of Cameron's five-year tenure. The best rank for the Ravens was 13th in 2009 and this year's squad was 19th entering Week 14.
Cameron joined the Ravens in January of 2008 after a dismal one-year stint as the head coach at Miami. The Dolphins were 1-15 in his lone season of 2007, but Cameron did have prior success as offensive coordinator at San Diego for four seasons.
"There is a very human side to this. Cam is my friend, he taught me a lot about coaching, and he is an outstanding coach," Harbaugh continued. "Personally, this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a coach. Cam has been a significant contributor to all of our successes over the past four, almost five, seasons. Deservedly, he is highly regarded, and we owe thanks to him for what he did for the Ravens."
Caldwell was hired by the Ravens this past January after three-year run as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. With Peyton Manning at quarterback, the Colts reached the Super Bowl in Caldwell's first year at the helm, but the Colts were just 2-14 with Manning sidelined all last season because of a neck injury.
Harbaugh said Caldwell will also handle play-calling duties.
