As former head coach John Harbaugh conducted his first official interview with Atlanta on Monday, the Ravens continue moving through their first round of interviews to find his replacement.
With the organization announcing the completion of interviews with Kliff Kingsbury and Anthony Weaver on Monday, Baltimore has now conducted official interviews with seven candidates, a list that also includes Vance Joseph, Davis Webb, Klint Kubiak, Kevin Stefanski, and Matt Nagy. According to various outlets, eight other candidates have been requested for interviews as the Ravens look to hire only the fourth head coach in a history spanning three decades.
While owner Steve Bisciotti is clearly casting a wide net in the organization’s first head coach search in 18 years, it’s difficult to decipher any clear preference or pattern to this point in the search. Of course, we’ll hope to gain a better idea of what he and general manager Eric DeCosta are prioritizing when the two answer questions from reporters in Owings Mills on Tuesday afternoon.
Of the 15 candidates who’ve been linked to the Ravens, eight are former head coaches and seven would be first-time NFL head coaches. Eight are coaches with offensive backgrounds while seven carry expertise on the defensive side of the ball.
Four of the first seven official interviews have come with onetime NFL head coaches in Joseph, Stefanski, Nagy, and Kingsbury. The Ravens have also requested interviews with former head coaches Brian Flores, Robert Saleh, Mike McDaniel, and Jim Schwartz.
While most of the candidates with head coaching experience are currently in their early-to-mid-40s with more recent experience in charge of teams, Joseph is 53 and was Denver’s head coach from 2017-18 and Schwartz is 59 and was Detroit’s head man from 2009-13. It’s worth noting that the latter has strong local roots as a Mount St. Joseph’s graduate who spent three years as a Ravens defensive assistant when the franchise first arrived from Cleveland in 1996.
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Weaver was the first candidate with strong ties to the organization to complete an official interview as he played for the Ravens from 2002-05 and served as their defensive line coach from 2021-23. The 45-year-old was also Baltimore’s assistant head coach for two years before Miami hired him to become its defensive coordinator following the 2023 campaign.
The candidacy of both Weaver and Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has prompted debate about how much Bisciotti and the Ravens may value ties to Harbaugh or whether that could be considered more of a deterrent. Minter, 42, was a defensive assistant for the Ravens from 2017-2020 before moving to the college level to spend a year as Vanderbilt’s defensive coordinator. He then shifted to the same role under Jim Harbaugh at the University of Michigan for two seasons before following the younger Harbaugh brother to the Chargers in 2024.
With multiple candidates still busy coaching for their current teams in the postseason and Baltimore perceived to be the best opening in this hiring cycle, the Ravens aren’t believed to be in any kind of major rush to fill their head coaching position.
Seven candidates to complete interviews
Vance Joseph – Denver defensive coordinator and ex-Broncos head coach
Davis Webb – Denver pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach
Klint Kubiak – Seattle offensive coordinator
Kevin Stefanski – Ex-Cleveland head coach
Matt Nagy – Kansas City offensive coordinator and ex-Chicago head coach
Kliff Kingsbury – Ex-Washington offensive coordinator and ex-Arizona head coach
Anthony Weaver – Miami defensive coordinator
Eight reported candidates scheduled or requested to interview
Jesse Minter – Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator
Brian Flores – Minnesota defensive coordinator and ex-Miami head coach
Robert Saleh – San Francisco defensive coordinator and former New York Jets head coach
Mike McDaniel – Ex-Miami head coach
Jim Schwartz – Cleveland defensive coordinator and ex-Detroit head coach
Nathan Scheelhaase – Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator
Chris Shula – Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator
Joe Brady – Buffalo offensive coordinator
