NONETHELESS. 11 SPORTS DIRECTOR GERRY SANDUSKY JOINS US IN THE STUDIO CHAIR DEB ANDRE. END OF AN ERA. LATE THIS AFTERNOON, RAVENS FIRED HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH, ENDING HARBAUGH’S 18 YEAR RUN AS THE TEAM’S HEAD COACH, THE LONGEST TENURE OF ANY BALTIMORE NFL HEAD COACH EVER. UNTIL TODAY, HARBAUGH WAS THE SECOND LONGEST TENURED ACTIVE HEAD COACH IN THE NFL, BEHIND ONLY. IRONICALLY, PITTSBURGH’S MIKE TOMLIN. IT WAS THE LOSS OF THE STEELERS LAST SUNDAY. THE LEFT THE RAVENS WITH AN EIGHT NINE RECORD, MISSING THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS. IT ALSO CAPPED A FRUSTRATING SEASON THAT BEGAN WITH THE WEIGHT OF SUPER BOWL EXPECTATIONS. HARBAUGH TOOK THE RAVENS TO THE PLAYOFFS IN 12 OF HIS 18 SEASONS. HE LED THE RAVENS TO A WIN IN SUPER BOWL 47 FOLLOWING THE 2012 SEASON, BUT SINCE THEN THE RAVENS HAVE FAILED TO WIN BACK TO BACK PLAYOFF GAMES IN ANY ONE YEAR. HARBAUGH RANKS 12TH ON THE NFL’S ALL TIME HEAD COACH WIN LIST, AND IS ONE OF ONLY EIGHT COACHES IN NFL HISTORY TO SPEND MORE THAN 300 GAMES WITH THE SAME TEAM, ALONG WITH WINNING THE SUPER BOWL, JOHN HARBAUGH LED THE RAVENS TO SIX DIVISION TITLES AND THREE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES. THEY ALSO SET THE NFL RECORD FOR THE MOST ROAD PLAYOFF WINS IN LEAGUE HISTORY, BUT HIS INABILITY TO GET THE RAVENS TO THE SUPER BOWL WITH LAMAR JACKSON AS THE STARTING QUARTERBACK, COMBINED WITH THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF A LOSING RECORD THIS SEASON, CREATED SEASON LONG PRESSURE AS THE RAVENS TRIED TO CLIMB OUT OF A15 START IN A GAME OF INCHES AND CLOSE PLAYS THE INCHES AND PLAYS CLEARLY DID NOT GO IN. HARBAUGH THE RAVENS FAVOR IN RECENT YEARS MISSED BILLY CUNDIFF FIELD GOAL IN THE 2011 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, A FUMBLE IN THE 2023 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, A MARK ANDREWS DROPPED TWO POINT CONVERSION IN THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR, AND THE MISSED FIELD GOAL THIS YEAR. AGONY HAS BECOME THE HARD STOP TO RECENT SEASONS, AND NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE END OF THE 2007 SEASON, THE RAVENS BEGIN THE SEARCH FOR A NEW HEAD COACH. JUST MINUTES AGO, RAVENS OWNER STEVE BISCIOTTI RELEASED THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT, WHICH READS IN PART, QUOTE. 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. I WILL ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY HARD WORK AND DEDICATION DISPLAYED BY JOHN AND HIS STAFF THROUGHOUT THE MANY SUCCESSFUL YEARS. I WISH HE, INGRID AND ALLISON ALL THE BEST GOING FORWARD. END QUOTE. THERE ARE NOW CURRENTLY SEVEN VACANT HEAD COACHING POSITIONS IN THE NFL. JOHN HARBAUGH IMMEDIATELY BECOMES A PRIME CANDIDATE FOR THE OTHER SIX AVAILABLE JOBS. MUCH MORE ON THE END OF THE HARBAUGH ERA WITH THE RAVENS A LITTLE LATER IN SPORTS. ASHLEY. JERRY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BREAKING DOWN THE LATE BREAKING DEVELOPMENTS OF THE BALTIMORE RAVENS AND JOHN HARBAUGH PARTING WAYS. WE’LL HAVE MORE ON WHAT LED TO THAT POINT AND JOHN HARBAUGH’S CAREER IN BALTIMORE. YOU CAN GO T
Ravens reporter, former player provide insight on decision to move on from John Harbaugh
Updated: 7:14 PM EST Jan 7, 2026
The Ravens’ decision to move on from John Harbaugh came as a surprise, according to Jeff Zrebiec, a senior staff writer who covers the Ravens for The Athletic.A day after Harbaugh’s Tuesday departure, people are left with questions about what led to the decision.Video above: John Harbaugh “relieved of his duties” (Tuesday)”When you’re hearing late Monday night, early Tuesday morning that everything’s fine, they’re going to likely make some coaching changes but it’s not going to involve John Harbaugh, you sort of think everything’s going to be fine with Harbaugh, and he’s going to be back,” Zrebiec said. “But the surprise comes in when you get that announcement, and obviously there was a couple-hour span there on Tuesday afternoon where everything changed.”Zrebiec believes the change came down to a difference in opinion about the path forward.”The sense I’ve gotten from people close to Harbaugh is he thought they needed a little bit closer to a reset, and the organization thought they needed something more drastic to move beyond this disappointing season,” Zrebiec said. “I don’t think they were in complete agreement on what to do with the coaching staff going forward, including at the coordinator level. I think the organization wanted more change than John thought was necessary.”| RECAP: Ravens fall in final moments to Steelers on missed field goalFans are sharing mixed reactions to Harbaugh’s departure.”Not too surprised, but I’m disappointed. I really liked the coach,” said Frank Szustak, a Ravens fan.Latressa Harkless, another fan, said she was hurt due to Harbaugh’s long tenure with the team.Zrebiec said he senses a mixture of shock, sadness and hope from players and staff.”I think players are surprised — not that there wasn’t some speculation,” Zrebiec said. “There’s a lot of veteran players who have very close relationships with Harbaugh, who probably aren’t happy or don’t like the fact that it went down like this, really appreciate everything he’s done. And I’m sure there’s players in the locker room that are ready for a new change or ready for new energy. I think there was kind of a growing group of players this year in the locker room that you heard grumbling a little more about Harbaugh and the coaching staff… It did feel, this year being around the team, that things had gotten a little bit stale and vanilla. At some point, you need to try something drastic to break this cycle that they’re in.”| ANALYSIS: What’s next for the team after disappointing finish to season?Former Ravens player Femi Ayanbadejo said he and other former players love and respect Harbaugh.”I’m sad, but I’m excited for the future, and I’m excited to see what this coaching process looks like,” Ayanbadejo said.Ayanbadejo already has some ideas for who he’d like to see fill the role.”I’m probably a little bit more concerned with the defensive side of the ball, and I’d be leaning more toward a defensive head coach, a defensive-minded head coach like a Brian Flores or Jesse Minter,” Ayanbadejo said. “I would love to see Jim Schwartz potentially come back here as a coordinator.”But he said Harbaugh will always have a special legacy, especially for how he coached Lamar Jackson.”He has changed the culture of the quarterback position forever by allowing Lamar Jackson to be Lamar Jackson,” said Ayanbadejo. “I think that is the best thing you can do for players and young children that are growing up who are going to be playing this game.”
BALTIMORE —
The Ravens’ decision to move on from John Harbaugh came as a surprise, according to Jeff Zrebiec, a senior staff writer who covers the Ravens for The Athletic.
A day after Harbaugh’s Tuesday departure, people are left with questions about what led to the decision.
Video above: John Harbaugh “relieved of his duties” (Tuesday)
“When you’re hearing late Monday night, early Tuesday morning that everything’s fine, they’re going to likely make some coaching changes but it’s not going to involve John Harbaugh, you sort of think everything’s going to be fine with Harbaugh, and he’s going to be back,” Zrebiec said. “But the surprise comes in when you get that announcement, and obviously there was a couple-hour span there on Tuesday afternoon where everything changed.”
Zrebiec believes the change came down to a difference in opinion about the path forward.
“The sense I’ve gotten from people close to Harbaugh is he thought they needed a little bit closer to a reset, and the organization thought they needed something more drastic to move beyond this disappointing season,” Zrebiec said. “I don’t think they were in complete agreement on what to do with the coaching staff going forward, including at the coordinator level. I think the organization wanted more change than John thought was necessary.”
| RECAP: Ravens fall in final moments to Steelers on missed field goal
Fans are sharing mixed reactions to Harbaugh’s departure.
“Not too surprised, but I’m disappointed. I really liked the coach,” said Frank Szustak, a Ravens fan.
Latressa Harkless, another fan, said she was hurt due to Harbaugh’s long tenure with the team.
Zrebiec said he senses a mixture of shock, sadness and hope from players and staff.
“I think players are surprised — not that there wasn’t some speculation,” Zrebiec said. “There’s a lot of veteran players who have very close relationships with Harbaugh, who probably aren’t happy or don’t like the fact that it went down like this, really appreciate everything he’s done. And I’m sure there’s players in the locker room that are ready for a new change or ready for new energy. I think there was kind of a growing group of players this year in the locker room that you heard grumbling a little more about Harbaugh and the coaching staff… It did feel, this year being around the team, that things had gotten a little bit stale and vanilla. At some point, you need to try something drastic to break this cycle that they’re in.”
| ANALYSIS: What’s next for the team after disappointing finish to season?
Former Ravens player Femi Ayanbadejo said he and other former players love and respect Harbaugh.
“I’m sad, but I’m excited for the future, and I’m excited to see what this coaching process looks like,” Ayanbadejo said.
Ayanbadejo already has some ideas for who he’d like to see fill the role.
“I’m probably a little bit more concerned with the defensive side of the ball, and I’d be leaning more toward a defensive head coach, a defensive-minded head coach like a Brian Flores or Jesse Minter,” Ayanbadejo said. “I would love to see Jim Schwartz potentially come back here as a coordinator.”
But he said Harbaugh will always have a special legacy, especially for how he coached Lamar Jackson.
“He has changed the culture of the quarterback position forever by allowing Lamar Jackson to be Lamar Jackson,” said Ayanbadejo. “I think that is the best thing you can do for players and young children that are growing up who are going to be playing this game.”