Chris Horton was the second-to-last name on the Ravens' staff page when he began his NFL coaching career in 2014.

The last person on that list was another intern. His name? Mike Macdonald, currently head coach of the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks.

John Harbaugh knows how to pick them.

That's why it should not be taken lightly that he named Horton as his assistant head coach – in addition to special teams coordinator – on his inaugural staff with the Giants. Horton received the distinction after spending the last 12 seasons in Baltimore.

"I don't take it very lightly," Horton said on a new episode of "The Drive" with Shaun O'Hara. "I credit everything that John Harbaugh has done for me throughout my career, really just putting me in this position to be his right-hand man after so many years. That comes with a lot of responsibility. That comes with a lot of trust. It comes with a lot of understanding of getting the message across to everyone and making sure that we're on the same page."

Horton will oversee, among other things, the revamped battery of kicker, punter, and long snapper.

"You start from ground zero," Horton said. "You start at the bottom and then you build them up and you teach them what you want. They're all good players when they walk in here, and you just make sure that you hold them to the standard. There's a lot of – some people call it pressure. I just say, man, you just got to go out there and you've got do your job because their job requires a lot. When you're the kicker, points are always going to be involved. When you're the punter, you've got to flip that field. When you're the snapper, no one notices you until something goes wrong. So I just talk to them about holding each other accountable and we'll work from there."

Like Harbaugh, Horton has climbed the coaching ranks on special teams and continued the Ravens' proud tradition in that phase of the game. Twelve Ravens specialists have earned 23 combined Pro Bowl honors since the franchise's 1996 inception, including punter Jordon Stout, who has reunited with his coaches on the Giants.

"It was something that was in me," Horton said of coaching special teams. "It's always been in me. I started on the defensive side of the ball [as an intern], but I've always wanted to be a special teams coach. I love developing players, and I feel like that's a room where, at times, it becomes a lost art."

Above all else, Horton likes helping players find their opportunity.

He understands the importance because he was one of them.

Horton was a seventh-round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft and made the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team at safety. He played in 29 games across three seasons with Washington (2008-10), eventually concluding his playing career after a training camp stint with the Giants in 2012.

Horton then got his first taste of coaching at UCLA, just as Macdonald did at his alma mater, Georgia.

"It was one of those things where once I was done [playing], I went back to UCLA and really just wanted to see if coaching is what I wanted to do," said Horton, who earned All-America and All-Pac-10 honors for the Bruins. "Football has always been a part of my life since I was a young kid, so once I got that opportunity to coach at UCLA, I fell in love with coaching."