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Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh walks the sideline in the fourth quarter of the NFL football game between Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Dec. 14, 2025. Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ravens' John Harbaugh Job Security Considered Toss-Up

Originally posted on Baltimore Ravens on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Jan 6, 2026 1:30 PM ET

The first offseason dominos started to fall immediately upon Week 18's conclusion, with four different NFL head coaches having been excused from their respective posts between since past weekend.

Many fans of the Baltimore Ravens are watching the drama take place around them and waiting to see if their own team gets in on the coaching carousel, with John Harbaugh's future with the franchise reaching an all-time murky after 18 up-and-down years on the job. After all, he did enter the season with one of the most electrifying on-paper rosters of anyone in the association, but had to instead settle for crushing losses at nearly every pivotal turn in an 8-9 campaign that fell short of the postseason.

Mixed reports about Harbaugh's stability have been circulating NFL media for weeks, with his regularly-hot seat ringing in as nothing new to those who've spent enough tie listening to frustrated Ravens fans over the passing years. But according to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, the coach's future seems like a total toss-up as the Ravens assess their raw wounds.

"I think that's a little bit of a coin flip right now," Breer said in a visit on the Dan Patrick Show. "...I had people there tell me this is the best roster they've ever had going into the season. That level of expectation with the team, you've got a looming contract negotiation with Lamar Jackson. There's just a lot to sort through, and digging out from underneath the season there. I think that provokes those big picture questions."

The Ravens were likely never going to get in on the rapid-fire firings of some of their league-wide peers to start this business week, having just played for their lives mere days ago while squads like the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders have done nothing but endlessly lose for months on end. They have a lot to parse through, with this most recent season providing a fresh wave of ammo.

What's Further Hurt Harbaugh's Case?

The tension between coach and star quarterback added plenty of drama to the waning weeks of the Ravens' season, with reports alleging that the relationship between Lamar Jackson and Harbaugh had reached the end of its rope. Change was nearly-guaranteed following a season this underwhelming, further amplifying rumors that one of the two decision-makers wouldn't take the field for the team in the following season.

David Richard-Imagn Images

Both sides were quick to shoot that rumor down, but if there was any tug-of-war going on between parties, Jackson made a compelling case for why he should be the keeper. He gave it all he had in the fourth quarter, going touchdown-for-touchdown with Aaron Rodgers before his kicker missed what would have been the winning field goal from a realistically-makeable distance in their season-ending loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Harbaugh's been in Baltimore for twice as long as Jackson, but that's just why some fans are antsy to move on. The team's developed a reputation for wilting in big spots and not playing up to their potential, with this talented-looking roster producing nothing more than weekly bloopers amidst uncoordinated football.

This is a low point for an organization that's grown used to playoff runs, and over a decade of no rings to show for themselves surely hasn't helped anyone's in-house standing. Even if nothing's guaranteed to happen concerning the head coach's stability, the uncertainty's reached an all-time high.

This article first appeared on Baltimore Ravens on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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