ExtremeRavens Posted 7 hours ago Posted 7 hours ago On Tuesday afternoon, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and general manager Eric DeCosta spent roughly an hour fielding questions about another disappointing end to a season that begot a head coach firing. Insights abound. Here are three takeaways: Harbaugh’s tenure ended with the ‘craziest firing in the world’ Bisciotti first spoke with DeCosta about the possibility of an organizational shake-up maybe three or four weeks before the season ended. The Ravens were down on the mat. Confidence waned in their ability to get up and reach the playoffs. It wasn’t until Baltimore’s heartbreaking Week 18 loss in Pittsburgh that Bisciotti was certain that it was time to move on from John Harbaugh. He woke up the morning after “pretty sure” he was going to do it. Bisciotti consulted front office members as well as several veteran players. A day later, he phoned his coach of 18 seasons. “I never dreamed of firing somebody by phone,” Bisciotti said. What followed, he later described half-jokingly as “the craziest firing in the world.” Bisciotti delivered the news and apologized for doing it over the phone. Harbaugh told him he had no reason to be sorry, saying, “You don’t owe me anything. You gave me 18 years. You picked a special teams guy. Who does that?” Harbaugh told Bisciotti he was equal parts happy and content and disappointed. Bisciotti started to get emotional. His fired coach consoled him. The call didn’t last very long. Some front office members previously pledged support for keeping Harbaugh, who coached Baltimore to a Super Bowl title and has the second-most playoff game appearances (24) of any NFL coach since 2008. This was ultimately Bisciotti’s choice. He listened to his gut, deviating from what some of his partners believed. By Tuesday, he was “pretty damn sure” that he would not come to regret the decision. Bisciotti followed up with Harbaugh two days after firing him. On a longer phone call, Bisciotti rehashed, in part, all the negative narratives of the past few years: blown fourth-quarter leads and playoff regression that labeled the Ravens “underperformers.” Seeing a sector of the fanbase’s online vitriol toward Harbaugh ate away at Bisciotti. The call wasn’t all doom and gloom. They shared plenty of success together but both knew it was time. “I felt it was the right time to make the change. If not now, when? I guess is what I’m saying,” Bisciotti said. “I thought, ‘If I’m already here, and my gut is telling me it’s time, why would I let John rebuild an entire staff?’ Because I’m going to be sitting here next year saying, ‘What the hell did I do last year? Last year was the time.’ So, it wouldn’t have been fair, because I think we had run our course. “The next coach we get, I want him to be a Super Bowl-winning coach, too. God bless him if he can rise up to the level John did and be staring at a gold jacket.” Baltimore isn’t pigeon-holing itself with this coaching search Within hours of Harbaugh’s firing, Hall of Fame coach turned broadcast analyst Tony Dungy posted on X that he simply did not understand Bisciotti’s decision. “He was fired????” Dungy wrote. “I’m sorry but I don’t understand. Good luck Baltimore in finding a better coach.” Bisciotti nearly called Dungy. Instead, he waited for Tuesday, in a room full of cameras and reporters, to push back. “I literally wanted to call Tony and say, ‘Do you remember John 18 years ago? How can you take our success and use it against me while we’re out trying to find the next John Harbaugh?’” Bisciotti said. “That’s impossible.” When the Ravens hired Harbaugh, he was a relatively unknown 45-year-old special teams coach in Philadelphia. Bisciotti took a chance on his first head coaching hire because he saw something in him. With his second hire, he isn’t necessarily holding out for the safe bet former head coach. Bisciotti, who is sitting out the initial round of Zoom interviews but will be part of the discussion for in-person meetings, said he won’t be turned off by losing records at previous stops. The Ravens group at the forefront of this decision — Bisciotti, DeCosta, president Sashi Brown and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome — are prepared for the possibility of backlash for hiring a coach who might have had a losing record at a previous stop. Among the eight candidates interviewed as of Tuesday, that could include Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, former Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury or former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, among others. Failure is not without circumstances. Ravens brass won’t let a coach’s first try negatively influence their shot at a second one if they believe that’s the right person for Baltimore. Beyond that, Bisciotti didn’t gush over the idea of an offensive wiz kid. He didn’t sound particularly invested in the idea of hiring a top-flight defensive coordinator ready to make the jump either. What about a retread head coach? “I really couldn’t care [less],” Bisciotti said. “We want leaders,” DeCosta chimed in. “We want the best leader we can find. We want somebody who’s going to hold the players accountable. We want somebody who’s an expert in X’s and O’s, and we want somebody who the players can relate to, but also somebody that’s going to be firm and continue the culture that we’ve build, which we think is important.” With this next coach, patience is a virtue Brian Billick was hired as head coach of the Ravens in January 1999. Two years later, he won a Super Bowl. Harbaugh was hired in 2008. Five years later, he delivered Baltimore’s second title. “Maybe I’ll give this guy six [years],” Bisciotti cackled. In all seriousness, he’s willing to be patient with a new coach trying to get this team to the big game in February. Bisciotti didn’t give a serious timeline. He was clear, both in his statement after relieving Harbaugh and again a week later, that championships matter above all else. “I think we have a roster that’s capable of it,” Bisciotti said. “I think we have a GM that’s capable of making that roster better on the fly, and yes, I’ll be patient to that point. I’d probably give him five or six years — as long as I like everything else I see in him.” Bisciotti has no interest in sitting at that same table inside the Under Armour Performance Center to field questions about another fired coach three or four years from now. A few of his owner peers around the league do that. To Bisciotti, “that’s hell on Earth.” So his plan, as of mid-January, is pick a coach they’re so confident in that they’re willing to grant a decent amount of patience. That will require a balancing act from organizational higher ups. They’ll act with urgency knowing the window of Lamar Jackson’s prime will only be open for so many more years. Jackson just turned 29 and he’s coming off the most disappointing season of his career, which was largely because of injuries. Derrick Henry isn’t getting any younger either. At 32, it doesn’t appear he’s slowing down, but eventually Father Time comes knocking. He’ll come for the 65-year-old Bisciotti too. Asked whether he intends to own the team 10 or 15 years from now, the jovial owner shouted, “I’ll be 80!” He decided 25 years ago the Ravens will not be passed down within the Bisciotti family. He doesn’t want to be in his 80s still vying for a championship like Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He’d much prefer to “win a couple of Super Bowls and get the hell out.” Easier said than done. “I’d love that to be in the next 10 years when I’m 75. That’s my dream,” Bisciotti said. “If I have one of the top teams at 75, I’ll probably stay until 76. I’ll probably bail somewhere around 10 years from now when I have a really bad season or back-to-back seasons and he’ll [DeCosta] probably be coming with me. Right?” Bisciotti made light of organizational urgency. Truth is, expectations are sky high for whichever coach wins the most coveted job opening this offseason. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.x.com. View the full article Quote
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