Despite the Ravens breaking up with John Harbaugh after an 18-year partnership, they continued to be linked for the better part of the last week.
While Baltimore is regarded as having the best head coach opening for anyone not named Harbaugh, the 63-year-old was widely viewed as the top candidate on the market for any team other than the Ravens, which left the rest of the field waiting for the first domino to fall. With Harbaugh now in the process of finalizing a deal to become the new head coach of the New York Giants, all eyes turn to the Ravens’ hire as teams turned down by Harbaugh shift their sights to other candidates.
With general manager Eric DeCosta and the organization having completed 11 first-round interviews through Thursday and scheduled for several more running through the weekend, the Ravens clearly aren’t in a rush to narrow their list to what’s expected to be four or five finalists. Within reason, you wouldn’t expect too many candidates vying to become Lamar Jackson’s next head coach to be in a major hurry to sign on elsewhere, which should leave the Ravens in a position to likely be able to choose just about anyone they want.
It’s why they are in no hurry and are casting a wide net in their search — even when it comes to former head coaches perceived as failures elsewhere.
“I could say I’m disqualifying coaches with losing records, but I think you have to remember that they were the hottest coaches in their [previous hiring] cycle, and they got jobs and got tough jobs,” owner Steve Bisciotti said Tuesday. “I don’t think we have a tough job. I think that we created the best opening in this cycle.”
Eleven candidates to complete interviews
Mike McDaniel – Ex-Miami head coach
Jesse Minter – Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator
Jim Schwartz – Cleveland defensive coordinator and ex-Detroit head coach
Brian Flores – Minnesota defensive coordinator and ex-Miami head coach
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
Reported candidates scheduled or requested to interview
Robert Saleh – San Francisco defensive coordinator and former New York Jets head coach
Nate Scheelhaase – Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator
Chris Shula – Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator
Joe Brady – Buffalo offensive coordinator
8
Harbaugh jumps right back into coaching crucible
While it became very clear soon after his dismissal that Harbaugh was coveted by the Giants, one of the more interesting takeaways from Bisciotti’s press conference was the owner strongly wishing his former head coach and friend would have taken a year off before jumping into another job.
Even though that would have meant Bisciotti paying Harbaugh in the neighborhood of $17 million not to coach in 2026. Of course, the latter signed a three-year contract extension with Baltimore 9 1/2 months ago that was scheduled to run through the 2028 campaign.
“‘I’d be more than happy to give you a very expensive paid vacation for a year if you and (Harbaugh’s wife) Ingrid would pray on that and come to the decision that you could go out and travel and golf together and rifle,'” Bisciotti said. “I said a whole year of that at 63 is a lot different than if you take another job, and [your next opportunity for taking a year off is] at 75. And as we get older, you start realizing that five-year chunks are changes in your life.
“I really, really, really would have hoped that he took a year off out of this crazy business that you work 80 hours a week and got a chance [for a break]. Because I said, ‘Like your friend Sean Payton, you’ll still be the hottest coach next year, and you can do a little broadcasting and can do a little traveling, and then you can get back into it.'”
Football coaches are wired differently than the rest of the population, so Harbaugh’s decision wasn’t surprising, especially considering the lucrative compensation he’ll be receiving from the Giants. But you have to wonder if taking a step back to recharge and evaluate what was a confounding last several seasons in Baltimore would have been beneficial for his second stint as an NFL head coach.
Why did the Ravens blow so many late leads?
8Why did this team repeatedly fail in January after accomplishing so much in the regular season in the Jackson era?
Why was 2025 so disappointing?
With stars in their eyes, the rebuilding and desperate Giants may not have cared to hear those answers, but Harbaugh — and the Ravens — learning from such failures will be key to either party reaching new heights in the years to come.
