John Harbaugh was fired by the Ravens this past week—and according to a pair of NFL reporters, that’s exactly what it was: A straight-up firing after an 18-season run with the franchise.
The 63-year-old had been the NFL’s second-longest tenured head coach behind only division foe Mike Tomlin, and compiled a 180–113 regular season record to go along with a 13–11 postseason mark that included a Super Bowl XLVII victory in 2012. Unfortunately, an 8–9 campaign in 2025—one that saw Baltimore miss the playoffs for the first time since 2021—seemingly did the head coach in.
According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini and Jeff Zrebiec, not only was this a firing, but Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti delivered the news to Harbaugh via a phone call—quite an unbecoming way to end the tenure of a coach who had led the club for nearly two decades.
“And it was neither a resignation nor a mutual parting,” the tandem wrote on Saturday. “He was relieved of his duties. … It wasn’t until Thursday that Harbaugh and Bisciotti spoke more in depth, according to league sources. Bisciotti wanted to provide further explanation of his decision after the emotions had settled.”
“[He] no longer saw Harbaugh, his longtime coach and friend, as the right person to do it,” Russini and Zrebiec added.
For what it’s worth, the duo seemed to insinuate that the notion Harbaugh had lost the locker room was far-fetched, with one source calling it “B.S.”
“It’s hard to please 50-plus guys, and when you’re losing, everything is magnified,” another source added, via Russini and Zrebiec. “But I never had the sense that this was really bad, and he lost the locker room.”
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John Harbaugh is on plenty of teams’ radar in the 2026 coaching carousel. / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Back on the market for the first time since 2008, Harbaugh is expected to garner plenty of head coaching interest in the current cycle.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Harbaugh will begin conducting coaching interviews next week. He added that the Dolphins reached out to Harbaugh on Friday—the same day they finalized an agreement with new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan—expressing interest in the coach. Miami is the seventh franchise to do so, though not all will land interviews, per Breer.
It sounds like Harbaugh—whose brother, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, told reporters this week that he “will be a head coach next year”—won’t have to wait long for his next job.
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