I’ve covered Ravens since Day One in 1996 and Sunday was the first time I’ve been in a post-game locker room where questions were rapid fire in every direction regarding the job security of the head coach. Clearly, John Harbaugh is on the hot seat.
With all of the disappointment of the 4-5 start – I actually saw an angry douchebag cowardly fan berating poor Jermaine Eluemenor as I exited the stadium after the 23-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers – it’s expected that the fan base would be spurred on by a media that smelled blood in the water for John Harbaugh as well as Joe Flacco in the aftermath of what has been a lackluster month of football after a promising start in all three phases of the game.
I think there are several reasons that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti will not be firing John Harbaugh this week.
First, Bisciotti and Harbaugh are extremely close and their relationship and mutual respect run deep. Pulling the plug would reflect poorly on both of them.
Also, the Ravens locker room also hasn’t “quit” on Harbaugh. And there’s no one in any corner of the locker room that has shifted blame onto anyone other than themselves – as it should be when both sides of the ball as well as the special teams have all played a role in this spate of losses.
I have spent this century studying the management style of Bisciotti and I believe there’s no way he’d fire Harbaugh in midseason because it’s simply not how he manages. He’s far from impulsive. Plus, firing the coach makes the owner the biggest story during bye week and that’s not how Bisciotti rolls.
And finally – and most significantly – I believe that Bisciotti wouldn’t fire a Super Bowl-winning head coach in Harbaugh during a 4-5 bye week because it would devalue his brand and taint his ownership philosophy. In his eyes, that’s the kind of garbage the Browns and Raiders do.
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It would be very un-Ravens like…
I’ve been wrong before but firing Harbaugh right now would admit a massive midseason panic for Bisciotti that I think is far too sloppy, too wasteful and simply not the way he operates.
But, it surely feels inevitable in some ways that a massive change will be coming for the Ravens this offseason barring a dramatic turnaround during this bye week of rest before the Cinncinati Bengals come to Baltimore in 13 days.
And while we’re at it on ownership and leadership – it’s important to note that the baseball team across the parking lot still doesn’t have a general manager or a manager or anyone to answer questions about their offseason after 115 losses. And they also ban the media members they don’t like from asking questions.
It’s tough times for leaders and sports fans in the Charm City. I will be opining at WNST.net and AM 1570 all week…
Appreciate your support in these troubles times for our sports franchises…
