After an 18-year partnership that included a Super Bowl championship, six AFC North division titles, and 12 trips to the postseason, the Ravens have fired longtime head coach John Harbaugh.
The news came two days after the heartbreaking season-ending loss in Pittsburgh that resulted in Baltimore finishing 8-9 to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2021 and the second time in the Lamar Jackson era. Though speculation had grown about Harbaugh’s future and fan anger had increased with the Ravens concluding arguably the most disappointing regular season in their 30-year history after entering 2025 as a popular Super Bowl pick, skepticism lingered about owner Steve Bisciotti parting with the only head coach he’d hired since taking full control of the franchise in 2004.
Harbaugh had signed a three-year contract extension with Baltimore only nine months ago.
In a statement released by the team Tuesday evening, Bisciotti said he made the call to part with the 63-year-old coach after “a comprehensive evaluation of the season and the overall direction” of the organization. Considering the way the Ravens have valued stability with just two general managers and three head coaches since their arrival in Baltimore in 1996, Harbaugh’s dismissal represents a significant reset and admission of not living up to high expectations.
“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,” Bisciotti said. “Throughout what I firmly believe is a Hall of Fame coaching career, John has delivered a Super Bowl championship to Baltimore and served as a steadfast pillar of humility and leadership. He and his family have deeply embedded themselves in this community. For these profound contributions, on and off the field, we should all be forever grateful.
“Our goal has always been and will always be to win championships. We strive to consistently perform at the highest level on the field and be a team and organization our fans take pride in.”
Now expected to be a top candidate among the six other NFL teams with openings, Harbaugh had been the league’s second-longest tenured head coach behind only Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and led the Ravens to a 180-113 regular-season record and 13-11 postseason mark beginning in 2008. His eight playoff road wins are the most by a head coach in league history, and the pinnacle of his time in Baltimore was a victory in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans to cap a thrilling 2012 postseason run.
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While regular-season success continued — 2025 was only the third losing season of Harbaugh’s career — and even reached new heights with the arrival of two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, the playoff wins Harbaugh enjoyed early in his tenure largely dried up with the Ravens going a disappointing 3-6 in the postseason since 2018 and reaching just one AFC championship game despite twice securing the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the conference over that stretch. Even more frustrating was the way the Ravens lost many of those January games because of uncharacteristic mistakes, star players faltering at the most critical moments, and questionable coaching decisions. Baltimore also earned the dubious reputation for blowing too many fourth-quarter leads in the regular season in recent years with many of those damaging playoff seeding in the process.
There had also been recent speculation about the state of Harbaugh’s relationship with the 29-year-old Jackson, who declined to answer a question about his head coach’s status following Sunday’s loss to the Steelers.
“You’re asking me about next year. I’m so caught up in what just happened tonight,” said Jackson, who will obviously be a major selling point and consideration for Baltimore’s next head coach. “I can’t focus on that right now.”
Asked after Sunday’s loss whether he wanted another shot to coach the Ravens in 2026, Harbaugh said, “Yes, I love these guys. I love these guys.”
Given his family’s strong ties to the University of Michigan, Harbaugh periodically referenced a quote from legendary head coach Bo Schembechler stating, “Every day you either get better or you get worse; you never stay the same.” But with the Ravens going from hosting the AFC title game two years ago to starting 1-5 in 2025 and laboring through a frustrating campaign that culminated with Tyler Loop’s missed 44-yard field goal Sunday night, it was becoming more and more difficult not to believe the latter being true of the Ravens, which prompted Bisciotti to make a major change.
Both parties will hope for an outcome similar to the one Harbaugh’s old boss in Philadelphia, Andy Reid, had as he went on to win multiple Super Bowls in Kansas City and the Eagles won Super Bowls with two different head coaches after their 14-year partnership came to an end in 2013.
Baltimore will now be in the market for only the fourth head coach in the three-decade history of the franchise with popular candidates in this hiring cycle including ex-Ravens assistant and Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Minnesota defensive coordinator and ex-Miami head coach Brian Flores, and Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. As was the case when Bisciotti fired Super Bowl XXXV champion coach Brian Billick at the end of 2007 and replaced him with a relatively unknown special teams coach in Harbaugh, the Ravens now face the challenge of finding someone who will have large shoes to fill and a high bar to clear to take this team to championship heights.
They’d be fortunate to find someone as good as their previous two hires.
