The Baltimore Ravens parted ways with head coach John Harbaugh on Tuesday, just two days removed from the Ravens devastating loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Harbaugh is the longest tenured head coach in the Ravens short history spending 18 seasons with the team.
Harbaugh made a name for himself as a special teams coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles beginning in 1998, a position he would hold until 2006, when he was named the defensive backs coach for the Eagles in 2007. Harbaugh would be hired by the Ravens in 2008 leading the Ravens to five straight playoff appearances. In those first five season at the helm, Harbaugh would lead the Ravens to three AFC championship appearances and a Super Bowl victory in 2012 over the San Francisco 49ers, and his brother Jim Harbaugh.
In his career Harbaugh amassed a total record, regular and postseason, of 193-123 including winning eight AFC north division crowns. Harbaugh missed the playoffs just six times in his 18 seasons, and twice in the last five seasons. Harbaugh acknowledged in a statement following his firing that it wasn’t the kind of message he was looking to give on his last day, but that he was appreciative and grateful for the Ravens organization and the memories created over the years.
It wasn’t the year the Ravens wanted in 2025, as they entered the year as odds on Super Bowl. But injuries to quarterback Lamar Jackson and inconsistent play on both the offensive and defensive sides the of the ball got the Ravens off to a 1-5 start. The team rallied despite the slow start winning five straight games to put themselves back in position to win the AFC north. Heading into week 18, the Ravens needed to defeat the Steelers to win the AFC north and make the playoffs for the third consecutive year. However, a missed 44-yard Tyler Loop field goal as time expired would seal the Ravens, and ultimately Harbaugh’s fate at the Ravens head coach heading into 2026.
John Harbaugh will forever have a legacy in Baltimore leading the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory in 2012 and totaling nearly 200 wins in his career. But like all things, they eventually come to an end, and it seemed like the most likely outcome following the Ravens 8-9 finish to the 2025 season, one that had so much promise leading up to the start of the season. Miscues in key moments and blown leads seemed to become a common theme under Harbaugh over the last several seasons, and with fans becoming anxious regarding how the team will proceed past this season, owner Steve Biscotti and the Ravens organization made the difficult, but much needed decision to move on from Harbaugh despite all the success he has had during his time in Baltimore.
The Ravens will now be in search for a new head coach for the first time since they hired Harbaugh in 2008, and with that will likely come changes at both the offensive and defensive coordinator positions as Todd Monken and Zach Orr will unlikely be back with a new head coach and new staff. It is unclear is Harbaugh will continue coaching in the NFL, but there will be interest from several teams who need a head coach, and only time will tell if this was the right decision for the Ravens at this time, but it very well might work out for both parties who seemingly struggled to get out of their own way over the last few seasons.
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