ExtremeRavens Posted Tuesday at 10:24 PM Posted Tuesday at 10:24 PM The John Harbaugh era in Baltimore has come to a stunning end. After 18 seasons, the Ravens fired Harbaugh on Tuesday. The move comes less than a year after Harbaugh signed a three-year extension that would have kept him with the organization through the 2028 season. “Following a comprehensive evaluation of the season and the overall direction of our organization, I decided to make a change at head coach. Today I informed John that he has been relieved of his duties,” Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said in a statement. “This was an incredibly difficult decision, given the tremendous 18 years we have spent together and the profound respect I have for John as a coach and, most importantly, as a great man of integrity.” pic.twitter.com/f1YON9Mb1A — Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 6, 2026 pic.twitter.com/OppvL6D3Jb — Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 6, 2026 Instead, his reign as the second-longest-tenured coach in the NFL behind only the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin came to an abrupt denouement following an astonishing 8-9 season that began with Baltimore entering the year as Super Bowl favorites only to flame out by missing the playoffs for the first time since 2021. With the decision, it also means that offensive coordinator Todd Monken and defensive coordinator Zach Orr are unlikely to be back. The Ravens also likely have a replacement for Harbaugh already in mind, and that candidate would bring in his own staff, though it’s possible he could retain some of Baltimore’s other coaches. Whatever Baltimore does, moving on from Harbaugh, 63, was a surprising development. Harbaugh became just the third coach in franchise history when Bisciotti hired him from the Philadelphia Eagles, where he was a longtime special teams coordinator and then defensive backs coach, after firing Brian Billick in 2008. Five seasons later, he led Baltimore to its second championship with a 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers and coach and younger brother, Jim, in Super Bowl 47 in New Orleans. But more than a dozen years later, that stands as the Ravens’ last title, with just one appearance in the AFC championship game since. That came during the 2023 season, when quarterback Lamar Jackson led Baltimore to the NFL’s best record at 13-4 to earn the AFC’s top seed and home-field advantage and took home his second league Most Valuable Player Award after also winning it in 2019. But hosting the conference championship for the first time, the Ravens lost at home to the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-10, and did so in familiar fashion, with a series of blunders and self-inflicted mistakes that included questionable coaching decisions over conservative play calling and missed red zone opportunities. The Ravens made it to the playoffs again last season, but didn’t get as far, falling to the Buffalo Bills, 27-25, in the divisional round at Highmark Stadium, where Baltimore significantly outgained Buffalo, didn’t punt but turned the ball over three times in another dispiriting defeat with more questions swirling over Harbaugh’s decision-making. Yet, two months later, Bisciotti gave Harbaugh, who was entering the final year of his contract, a three-year extension, again making him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league. Things quickly soured this season, however, after the Ravens stumbled to a 1-5 start that included blowing a 15-point fourth-quarter lead to the Bills in the season opener, along with an embarrassing 44-10 loss to the Houston Texans at home, tying for the largest defeat in the organization’s 30-year history. Several injuries along the way, including to Jackson, who missed three games because of a hamstring injury, didn’t help. Baltimore eventually rallied, winning five in a row over lesser opponents to climb into a first-place tie in the AFC North, but faded down the stretch. The Ravens lost consecutive division games at home to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thanksgiving night and the Steelers 10 days later. Then, after rebounding with a shutout in Cincinnati, they blew another double-digit fourth-quarter lead, this time at home to the New England Patriots. It marked the 12th time the Ravens lost a game when leading by seven-plus points in the fourth quarter since 2021, the most in the NFL during that span. More questions swirled about Harbaugh’s decisions — including not having running back Derrick Henry on the field down the stretch of the game — as well as the coach’s future. It also wasn’t the first time. After the Ravens missed the playoffs in three straight seasons from 2015 through 2017, Bisciotti considered firing Harbaugh. This time, though, there was no change of heart. Harbaugh’s career in Baltimore ends with him as the winningest coach in franchise history with an overall record of 193-124. Coming into this season, his 12 playoff appearances were also tied for the second-most behind only Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s 20. This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.