OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It seems no one inside the Baltimore Ravens’ training facility had conviction that Tuesday would become the most shocking day in franchise history.
Around 2:45 p.m., it was business as usual as some of the coaches left after filing their end-of-season player reports. John Harbaugh chatted up the members of his staff who hung around.
The belief inside the building — or at least the hope — was that the Ravens would undergo staff changes, perhaps at the coordinator positions, but that Harbaugh would remain the head coach in 2026.
One team source came away from that afternoon with the impression that Harbaugh and the Ravens were discussing a possible change at head coach but didn’t expect a quick decision, and that Harbaugh had 24 hours to decide what he wanted to do.
Just a few hours later, the coaches heard a knock on their door. A visibly distraught general manager Eric DeCosta, along with team president Sashi Brown, called a brief and hastily assembled meeting that began with DeCosta telling the group that he has “never had to do this before,” a team source recalled.
The news that was delivered ended the era of the winningest coach in Ravens history and jolted one of the most stable organizations in all of pro sports: John Harbaugh was fired by owner Steve Bisciotti.
Most Ravens players learned that Harbaugh was gone either from social media or text messages from friends before a 6 p.m. virtual meeting with DeCosta.
“A hard day for everybody,” DeCosta told members of the organization, a team source said.
A dozen team sources told ESPN that the Ravens’ 2025 season unraveled with a historically bad start, a locker room filled with complaints, repeated embarrassments at home games, and a battered face of the franchise in quarterback Lamar Jackson. Here is what is known about Jackson’s possible impact on the firing, Harbaugh’s grasp on the locker room, and an owner who took a coaching risk nearly two decades ago and is now staking the future of his franchise on another.
The most intriguing question — and one that might never be publicly answered — is what happened in those two hours Tuesday afternoon that led to the dismissal of a coach who won Super Bowl XLVII and earned 12 playoff berths in his 18 seasons in Baltimore.
Harbaugh and the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII. Rob Tringali/SportsChrome/Getty Images
Did Harbaugh ultimately take the blame for a team that failed to play its best in big games? Did he refuse to make certain changes to his coaching staff? Did the Ravens act to appease two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and quarterback Lamar Jackson? Or did the team’s owner look to reinvigorate a frustrated fan base?
“Only Steve and John can answer that,” another team source said of how the decision came to be. “But it was probably not one thing.”
Bisciotti and DeCosta are scheduled to talk to the media next Tuesday, the first time they will do so in the wake of firing Harbaugh. In a statement released almost an hour after the news was announced, Bisciotti said, “Following a comprehensive evaluation of the season and the overall direction of our organization, I decided to make a change at head coach. … This was an incredibly difficult decision.”
Baltimore began the season with heightened expectations and was lauded as a preseason favorite to win the franchise’s third Super Bowl title. Instead, in the aftermath of a disappointing and drama-filled 8-9 season, the Ravens were eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since 2021 and are searching for the fourth head coach in the franchise’s 31-year history, which will shape the direction of a team built to compete for a championship immediately.
Harbaugh, who has three years left on his contract, summed up the jarring conclusion to such a promising season in his statement, which began: “Well, I was hoping for a different kind of message on my last day here, someday, but that day has come today.”
An ominous tone for the season was set in Week 1 with a historic fourth-quarter meltdown in Buffalo that sent the Ravens reeling.
In a 41-40 loss, the Ravens became the first NFL team to lose a season opener after holding a 15-point lead in the final four minutes. But this collapse continued a dreaded pattern for Harbaugh and Baltimore, which lost for the fifth time since 2019 after leading by double digits in the fourth quarter (tied for most in the NFL).
Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton said he wished he knew why it was happening.
“[We are] banging our heads on the wall about it at this point,” Hamilton said after the game.
By the time the Ravens were 1-5, tying the worst start in franchise history, there were varying signs of internal tension playing out between the players. Jackson told the equipment staff to remove the toys in the locker room — a basketball hoop, pingpong table, cornhole boards and video game consoles — because they were distractions.
“I appreciate Mr. Steve [Bisciotti] for putting that in for us, but we had to focus,” Jackson later said.
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The Baltimore Banner also cited anonymous sources who detailed players’ discontent with offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s playcalling.
One team source told ESPN this week that he noticed internal “bickering” from players during the year and believed that might have affected Bisciotti’s thinking on Harbaugh, especially if they told him about the situation directly after the season. Some of the complaints centered on the lack of targets for certain players and the run/pass balance that affected running back Derrick Henry, the source added.
Despite great success in together in 2023 and 2024, Jackson and Monken had chemistry issues this past season, according to team sources. Monken’s hard-driving coaching style didn’t mesh with Jackson, one source said.
“The communication with Lamar and Todd wasn’t as good as it was in that first year,” the same team source said. A separate source with knowledge of the situation countered that developing a relationship with Jackson isn’t always easy because he can internalize frustrations and keep receipts on perceived slights.
Challenges were mounting, and Harbaugh was tasked with managing them all.
“I didn’t coach Lamar well enough,” Monken said Thursday on the “Ryan Ripken Show.” “I didn’t have as good of a relationship as I could have.”
Monken later added, “Lamar and I, to me, had a good relationship. Could it have been better? Of course. Lamar and I never had an issue.”
Though Baltimore seemingly revived its season by winning five straight games from late October through November, other streaks brought consternation.
Over the following five weeks, Jackson dealt with a growing number of injuries: knee, ankle and toe. During that time, he chose not to participate in the first practice of every week. He sometimes missed walk-throughs and meetings due to injury rehab, according to multiple team sources.
Jackson’s availability became a sensitive topic with the team. On Dec. 17, Harbaugh told reporters that Jackson was home with an illness. When asked if Jackson would have sat out the Wednesday practice as usual, Harbaugh asked if there were any other questions before cutting his media session short.
After the season-ending loss in Pittsburgh, Jackson declined to give a vote of confidence when asked if he wanted Harbaugh to remain his coach. AP Photo/Nick Wass
Toward the end of the season, The Baltimore Sun reported that Jackson had fallen asleep in team meetings and that the relationship between the quarterback and Harbaugh had become strained. Jackson disputed all of this, chalking it up to outside “noise.”
The distractions tested Baltimore’s mettle but didn’t break it. Multiple team sources noted how Harbaugh had the team ready to play in Week 17 in Green Bay, pouring 41 points on the Packers’ defense despite playoff chances dwindling at that point.
After the season-ending loss in Pittsburgh, however, Jackson declined to give a vote of confidence when asked whether he wanted Harbaugh to remain his coach. “You’re asking me about next year,” Jackson said. “I’m so caught up in what just happened tonight. I can’t focus on that right now.”
A team source said it’s no coincidence the Ravens decided to move on from Harbaugh and his staff at a time when they need to engage in contract talks with Jackson. Baltimore would like to reduce his $74.5 million salary cap hit by March 11, the start of the new league year. Jackson has two years left on the five-year, $260 million contract he signed in 2023, and he has full no-trade and no-tag clauses.
The Ravens’ final home game — a 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots on Dec. 21 — served as a three-hour reminder of why Baltimore fell short of being a playoff team, much less a championship one.
Baltimore blew its second double-digit lead of the season in the fourth quarter. Henry didn’t touch the ball for the final 12 minutes. Jackson got injured again, leaving late in the first half with a back contusion.
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The final moments of the game delivered more embarrassment with the chants of “MVP” filling up M&T Bank Stadium. This time, it wasn’t for Jackson. It was Patriots fans screaming it for their quarterback, Drake Maye.
The Ravens finished 3-6 at M&T Bank Stadium this season, their worst home record ever. The empty seats and bitterness increased throughout the season at the home stadium, which has been undergoing a $450 million renovation.
Fan outrage reached a fever pitch this season. Harbaugh was booed when coming off the field after a 44-10 loss to the Houston Texans on Oct. 5, and chants of “Fire Harbaugh” could be faintly heard the next week during a 17-3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
This is the type of scrutiny and pressure that comes when a team of this caliber is moving in the wrong direction. After losing an AFC Championship Game at home in 2023, the Ravens got knocked out in the divisional round last season before falling short of the postseason this time.
A day after that Week 16 loss to the Patriots, which would become Harbaugh’s final home game as Ravens coach, he was asked about his job security for the first time this season.
“I try to do the job, not try to keep the job,” Harbaugh said. “We don’t have control over that except for the job we do today. And if we do a good enough job today, then the opportunity to do that job or a different job will be there tomorrow.”
There is plenty of speculation about what led to the firing of Harbaugh, but team sources pushed back on the narrative that losing the locker room was one of the reasons for the move.
Multiple team sources noted how Harbaugh had the team ready to play in Week 17 in Green Bay, pouring 41 points on the Packers. Baltimore was a made 44-yard field goal away from beating the Steelers and winning the AFC North in the final game of the regular season.
“Saying John lost the locker room is bulls—,” that same source said.
Multiple sources did not consider the Week 18 game in Pittsburgh a must-win for Harbaugh to keep his job, believing the down season as a whole was a bigger factor. But a source added that Bisciotti wasn’t as engaged with Harbaugh in the final two weeks of the season, which suggested to the coach that his job might not be on solid footing.
After the loss in Pittsburgh, the final question asked to Harbaugh was: Do you want another shot with these players?
“Yes, I love these guys,” Harbaugh replied.
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 said, “I try to do the job, not try to keep the job” after the Week 16 loss to the Patriots. Michael Owens/Getty Images
Though Harbaugh has been labeled as the No. 1 head coaching candidate, the Ravens job is considered the best of the eight openings across the league.
No other team can offer a two-time NFL MVP at quarterback, a Pro Bowl-filled roster and a track record of stability. But it will also take a certain type of leader to follow in the footsteps of Harbaugh, who is one of eight in NFL history to coach over 300 games with one team.
When Bisciotti hired Harbaugh in 2008, he made it clear that he is willing to take risks if his instincts tell him that person is right for the job.
“Do I like a guy that has to earn his résumé? Yeah, I kind of made a living on hiring people with thin résumés, and it’s worked out pretty well for me the last 25 years,” said Bisciotti, who co-founded Aerotek, the largest privately owned staffing and recruiting company in the country.
“You have to take chances in life to be successful. You have to be willing to do things that the masses wouldn’t do or I don’t think you will ever separate yourself from the masses.”
The Ravens have begun the process of finding Harbaugh’s successor. On Thursday, Baltimore interviewed Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and Broncos offensive pass game coordinator Davis Webb. On Friday, the Ravens spoke with Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski.
The team is scheduled to meet with Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. There will be other candidates added to the list, which will likely include Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.
The challenges for the Ravens’ next coach will be connecting with Jackson, eliminating the costly mistakes late in big games and guiding Baltimore back to the Super Bowl while earning back fans’ trust.
“We fully understand the expectations of our fans and everyone in the Ravens organization,” Bisciotti said in the statement released after Harbaugh’s dismissal. “Finding another strong leader and partner who will reflect these high standards is paramount.”
