Updated Jan. 10, 2026, 2:17 p.m. ET

Change in life, and especially in the NFL, is inevitable, and the Ravens will have a new head coach after firing John Harbaugh on Tuesday. The move came after Baltimore started the season 1-5, and the Ravens finished 8-9 in 2025.

Making matters worse, Baltimore was 0-4 this season in games decided by 5 points or fewer, and overall, under Harbaugh, the Ravens are 45-61 in such games since 2008. Harbaugh is coveted in the coaching carousel, but his era is over, and according to reports, the firing could have been a mutual move. In an ESPN report from Jamison Hensley and Jeremy Fowler, a Ravens team source believed Harbaugh felt “underappreciated” at times in Baltimore.

A team source believed Harbaugh felt underappreciated at times in Baltimore. Harbaugh is a disciple of Andy Reid, who successfully went from coaching the Philadelphia Eagles for 14 seasons to leading the Kansas City Chiefs for the past 13 years. The notion of a second act for Harbaugh was not lost on multiple sources with knowledge of his thinking in the weeks before the season ended.

“There were moments late in the year when I wondered whether he still wants to do this anymore because the season was so crazy and relentless,” a team source said. “He still rallied us. That Green Bay game [Week 17] when we were almost eliminated, he had us ready to play despite the odds against us.”

Harbaugh (18th season) is the NFL’s second-longest-tenured head coach (Mike Tomlin – 19), with his 193 total wins tying Chuck Knox for the 12th most by a HC in NFL history. Harbaugh has led Baltimore to 12 playoff berths in the past 18 seasons and to six postseason appearances in the last eight years. Harbaugh is one of eight in NFL history to coach over 300 games with one team.

Still, relationships sometimes get stale, and while he’s a quality head coach who’ll have suitors on the open market, Harbaugh’s act and message have fallen on deaf ears in the Ravens locker room. The Giants or another team can now hire Harbaugh outright.

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