Only the second losing season under John Harbaugh didn’t dissuade the Ravens from extending their partnership with the winningest head coach in franchise history.
As anticipated since early in the offseason, owner Steve Bisciotti announced a three-year extension for Harbaugh that will take the 59-year-old coach through the 2025 season. In his 14 seasons at the helm beginning in 2008, Harbaugh had led the Ravens to a 137-88 mark, nine playoff berths, four AFC North championships, three conference championship game appearances, and, of course, the win in Super Bowl XLVII. The third-longest-tenured head coach in the NFL behind only New England’s Bill Belichick and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Harbaugh has the chance to continue building a resume worthy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, especially if he can add another NFL championship to his name.
Asked about the reports about his contract — which was originally set to expire at the end of 2022 — likely being extended earlier this offseason, Harbaugh certainly didn’t sound concerned about his standing within the organization, instead wanting to focus on how to improve an injury-ravaged team that lost its final six games of 2021. The final 8-9 mark was the Ravens’ first losing season since 2015 and only last-place finish of the Harbaugh era.
“I was never worried about [the contract]. I do think we have a great thing going in terms of I appreciate and I am grateful for the people in this building, and that starts with the boss,” Harbaugh said in late January. “Steve Bisciotti is the boss, and he is a great boss. He’s insightful. He’ll tell you what he thinks. He’ll respect your opinion. He’ll challenge you. He’ll encourage you, all of those things. He’s just really good, so you appreciate that.
“I’m thrilled to be here. I love being here. I love being a part of this mainly because of him and Eric [DeCosta] and Ozzie [Newsome] and all of the people here. I just love to coach, and that’s what I’m thinking about. If the Ravens want me still, then I want to be here, and we’ll do the best we can as long as we can.”
The next step is not only returning to the playoffs after failing to qualify for the first time since 2017, but the Ravens will be aiming to make a deep postseason run after winning just two playoff games over the last nine seasons since their last Super Bowl victory. Baltimore collected nine postseason victories over Harbaugh’s first five seasons.
Harbaugh was named NFL Coach of the Year after unanimous league MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens finished a franchise-best 14-2 in the 2019 regular season. His eight road playoff wins are the most by a head coach in league history, and he is the only NFL head coach to win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons.
