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Ravens fire coach John Harbaugh -- what's next for Baltimore?
ESPN ^ | January 06, 2026 | Multiple contributors

Posted on 01/07/2026 6:06:14 AM PST by Red Badger

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- In 2008, midway through the Baltimore Ravens' news conference introducing John Harbaugh as their head coach, a reporter referred to the fact that owner Steve Bisciotti said he was searching for the next Pro Football Hall of Fame coach.

"By the way, did you know I said that?" Bisciotti said with a laugh, patting Harbaugh on the back.

Without hesitation, Harbaugh casually responded: "Yeah, I read that somewhere."

Now, 18 seasons later, the Ravens are looking for a new head coach after Harbaugh put together a Hall of Fame career in Baltimore. Harbaugh was fired Tuesday after guiding the Ravens to a Super Bowl title in 2012, six AFC North titles and 193 victories, including 13 in the postseason.

The dismissal of Harbaugh, 63, came two days after Baltimore lost 26-24 at the Pittsburgh Steelers, which eliminated the Ravens from playoff contention for the first time since 2021. Baltimore (8-9) also finished with a losing record for the third time under Harbaugh, who is the franchise's winningest coach.

"Following a comprehensive evaluation of the season and the overall direction of our organization, I decided to make a change at head coach," Bisciotti said in a statement. "This was an incredibly difficult decision."

(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...


TOPICS: Outdoors; Sports; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: baltimore; baltimoreravens; football; johnharbaugh; maryland; nfl; pittsburghsteelers; ravens; stevebisciotti
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To: Tommy Revolts

Except when he doesn’t. Kickers miss. It happens. Just a few minutes earlier Boswell missed his first extra point in years.


41 posted on 01/07/2026 7:31:49 AM PST by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: discostu

We’ll see. I wish Dallas would hire a GM and actually let him run stuff.


42 posted on 01/07/2026 7:40:00 AM PST by jospehm20
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To: jospehm20

Jerry will never do that. It’s actually worst case scenario for him if he did. Then the GM will get all the credit. We know he hates other people getting credit.


43 posted on 01/07/2026 7:40:52 AM PST by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: SunkenCiv
“Sean Payton says that sacks are not really an O-line stat, they're a QB stat. He's right.”

Agreed, you can always throw the ball away.
An incompleation is better than a seven yard loss.
Dan Marino used to get rid of the ball within a few seconds.
The problem is that most of these running QBs are not that smart. They are DUMB. Yes, I just said what everyone is afraid to say.

44 posted on 01/07/2026 7:41:36 AM PST by woodbutcher1963
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To: discostu

Jerry hated every minute that Parcells was coaching in Dallas.


45 posted on 01/07/2026 7:42:44 AM PST by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: discostu

I agree.


46 posted on 01/07/2026 7:44:42 AM PST by jospehm20
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To: dfwgator

Yup. I was really shocked by either of them making that decision. Everybody knew that was gonna be a mess.


47 posted on 01/07/2026 7:44:47 AM PST by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: discostu

It’s been difficult to assess how good Stefanski is. I know he won Coach of the Year twice, but he hasn’t shown that much success. On the other hand, he’s saddled with the worst owner in the NFL (that’s saying something with the number of bad owners out there), and possibly the worst GM. A decent owner would have fired the GM after just proposing the DeShaun Watson trade. Yet, that guy is STILL the Browns GM!


48 posted on 01/07/2026 7:47:16 AM PST by Repealthe17thAmendment
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To: kosciusko51

And has a better playoff record than Tomlin.


49 posted on 01/07/2026 8:00:23 AM PST by pas
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To: Repealthe17thAmendment

Given how terrible the Browns’ roster I think he’s had great success. I mean just managing to get the Browns the best defense in the league shows the guys got the stuff.


50 posted on 01/07/2026 8:02:14 AM PST by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: Red Badger

Quoth the Ravens, “Nevermore”.


51 posted on 01/07/2026 9:07:03 AM PST by GingisK
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To: Pappy Smear

Please Browns back up the truck for Harbaugh Haslam promise to butt out. This would be the first good decision the Browns have ever made!


52 posted on 01/07/2026 9:30:50 AM PST by 2nd Amendment
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To: FamiliarFace

And the Steelers can pick up any high school coach


53 posted on 01/07/2026 10:05:30 AM PST by huckfillary
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To: Red Badger

He is a very good coach, and I think it was a mistake to fire him.

I thought it was pre-mature to fire the Giants coach this season as well, they showed promise once they got Dart behind center.

Coaching does matter. In the NFL, the coach often becomes the scapegoat for bad General Managership, IMHO.


54 posted on 01/07/2026 10:17:05 AM PST by Pete Dovgan
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To: discostu

“Half the time the GM should be fired for assembling a bad team.”

It’s more than half the time, but I agree.


55 posted on 01/07/2026 10:17:56 AM PST by Pete Dovgan
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To: Pete Dovgan

“...the coach often becomes the scapegoat for bad General Managership....”

Or Ownership.........


56 posted on 01/07/2026 10:35:27 AM PST by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: FamiliarFace

And the Steelers can pick up any high school coach


57 posted on 01/07/2026 11:51:00 AM PST by huckfillary
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To: Dilbert San Diego

A lot of teams do it to open up the possibility of picking up somebody like Harbaugh. Doesn’t happen frequently, but it does happen.


58 posted on 01/07/2026 12:14:34 PM PST by P8riot (You will never know Jesus Christ as a reality in your life until you know Him as a necessity.)
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To: Pappy Smear

The best thing I’ve seen at Browns stadium is an AC/DC concert last May.


59 posted on 01/07/2026 12:17:04 PM PST by P8riot (You will never know Jesus Christ as a reality in your life until you know Him as a necessity.)
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To: Red Badger

They should have traded their “wheels before deals” QB away a long time ago. Run first QB’s are a losing proposition. It is nice, but you have to stay in the pocket the majority of times to be a winner. Mahomes won, because the team around him was very good, and he could throw the ball “Off platform”. Lamar could have gotten them 2 first rounders and a 2nd rounder. Signed a decent QB and won the same amount of games, but eventually, they would hit a home run.


60 posted on 01/07/2026 12:49:55 PM PST by Glad2bnuts
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