Black…Tuesday? Ravens Fire Head Coach John Harbaugh

• In surprising NFL news, the Baltimore Ravens fired head coach John Harbaugh
• Harbaugh had been the Ravens coach for 18 years, winning Super Bowl XLVII in 2012-13
• Although they made the playoffs in 6 of the past 8 years, they have consistently failed in the playoffs with star QB Lamar Jackson
• Harbaugh is now a top candidate for every open job…and maybe a few that aren’t open for the moment

The Coach or the Players?

On the surface, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti’s decision to fire Harbaugh came about because the team missed the playoffs when they lost in Week 18 to the Steelers 26-24 on a Tyler Loop missed field goal. However, given the reports that Harbaugh had lost the locker room, there’s every possibility that, barring a Super Bowl run, he would have gotten fired anyway.

After an 8-9 season with controversies surrounding whether star QB Lamar Jackson gets special privileges, blown leads, a sense of mold surrounding the team, and questionable decisions culminating in not using Derrick Henry to try and get Loop closer than 44 yards before trying the game-winning kick, Bisciotti felt a change was needed.

In the end, there are two choices when a team is stagnating under a longtime head coach:

• Change the players
• Change the coach

If Bisciotti spoke to the players and they did not support Harbaugh, he needed to decide which was more important: stability and a chain of command, or the guys the fans pay to see.

Nobody goes to a football game to watch a coach. They go to see Lamar Jackson work magic with his arm, legs, and athleticism.

The question for the Ravens is if this was a coaching problem and a new voice will get this veteran team back into Super Bowl contention, or if this is a patch job and a blame game where the next coach will be thrown into the volcano when the front office realizes they must significantly alter the roster.

What’s Next for John Harbaugh?

Harbaugh, 63, was a surprise hire as Ravens head coach in 2008. Even now, very few special teams coaches make the jump to head coach. It’s especially unusual for someone who never played in the NFL.

However, he became an inspired choice, winning that Super Bowl against the 49ers, coached by his brother Jim Harbaugh. As the son of the former head coach of Western Michigan and Western Kentucky, Jack Harbaugh, and the brother of former NFL QB and now decorated head coach for the Chargers, Jim, he did benefit from name recognition and references. Looking all around the NFL, there’s an extreme amount of nepotism at play. That doesn’t mean the people hired are not qualified. Simply look at Kyle Shanahan. But it can be a closed society.

Given the respect Harbaugh has throughout the league and his record of success, he will be in demand if he wants to jump right back into the fray.

Longtime Harbaugh rival Mike Tomlin’s job status with the Steelers was also the subject of speculation had Pittsburgh been on the losing end of that Sunday night game for the AFC North title. Had the game gone the other way and Pittsburgh made a change, Tomlin would be so good on TV that he’d be the next broadcasting superstar.

Harbaugh might be too serious and wonky to be a natural in the booth.

He will have his choice of jobs and, in some cases, leapfrogs Kevin Stefanski as Target 1.

Potential Landing Spots for Harbaugh

Cleveland Browns

If the Browns are keeping Andrew Berry as the head of football ops, this will not work as Harbaugh will want substantial say-so in the construction of the roster. He certainly would not put up with the Shedeur Sanders nonsense.

While the risk/reward of being the guy who turns around the Browns would possibly put him on a Pro Football Hall of Fame track, it’s also the Browns. And they inevitably find a way to screw it up, no matter who the coach is.

Tennessee Titans

They have a quarterback in Cam Ward, the 4th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and an ownership willing to spend money to win. Still, this is probably a job better for Stefanski or a younger coach with a Sean McVay-type personality who can establish a rapport with the players better than the hardline Harbaugh would. They are also unlikely to give him major say in personnel.

Las Vegas Raiders

Despite the Raiders going the veteran Super Bowl-winning coach route with Pete Carroll and seeing it fail miserably, firing him after one awful year, they have a potential star running back in Ashton Jeanty, a great tight end in Brock Bowers, and Harbaugh could smooth over the shattered relationship between superstar defensive end Maxx Crosby and the club. They also have the #1 pick in the upcoming draft, meaning they’ll get a quarterback, presumably Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.

Part-owner Tom Brady is well acquainted with Harbaugh from the Patriots-Ravens rivalry. This is a good fit.

New York Giants

The Giants are viewed as a frontrunner for Stefanski. Another name being mentioned is Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. But after whiffing miserably on four straight coaches with Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge, and Brian Daboll, can New York risk another unknown like Hafley? Will they hire Stefanski who, despite the respect he has throughout the league, was up and down with the Browns and is known for being arrogant?

Mike McCarthy would have been the better choice than the current names bouncing around before Harbaugh became available.

The problem with the Giants goes back to the days of George Young and Bill Parcells. They have a chain of command and do not give the head coach the personnel say a prominent coach generally demands. That has never changed.

That said, GM Joe Schoen is hanging on by his fingernails, so Harbaugh would be the primary voice in the organization, whether he’s overtly given that power or not.

Odds for John Harbaugh Should Be Available Soon

Of course, some teams should discard the coach they currently have (the JETS!!!), but won’t.

Regardless, after the Ravens fired Harbaugh, it vaulted him to the top of several lists to be their team’s new head coach. When the odds come up, the likeliest spot is the Giants, with the Raiders a real possibility.

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