In late May, Ravens coach John Harbaugh predicted that the new helmet rules would affect only five percent of the league’s coaches. He didn’t mentioned he’d be one of them.
The Ravens already have been penalized twice for violating the new rule that prohibits lowering the helmet and initiating contact, and as of this posting there’s still plenty of time to play in the annual Hall of Fame game.
“The helmet rule is going to be a great rule,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said at the time. “That’s a direction that we coach -- we already coach that way to get it out of the game. I think 95 percent of the coaches in this league coach that way, and the other five percent have to get on board. The helmet is a protective device; it’s not a weapon.”
In Harbaugh’s defense, there’s no reason to think he coaches his players to lower their helmets and initiate contact. But it’s obvious that he’ll need to do more work to coach them not to.