John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens are set for a crucial Thursday Night Football clash with the Cincinnati Bengals after Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Baltimore has long been among the NFL‘s top contenders under Harbaugh and is again in that tier of teams even after its loss to Cleveland dropped the Ravens to 7-3. How long has Harbaugh been the Ravens’ head coach?
John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens Tenure
Harbaugh’s lengthy coaching career began in the collegiate ranks, where he started as an assistant coach at Western Michigan before working his way around to a variety of colleges, including Pittsburgh, Morehead State, Cincinnati, and Indiana.
Harbaugh then got his first NFL job as a special teams coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles and held that role from 1998 to 2006 before being promoted to the franchise’s defensive backs coach position in 2007. Despite not having any previous head coaching experience, he was hired as Baltimore’s head coach in 2008.
It’s largely been a success story since then, as Harbaugh has amassed an overall record of 165-107 across his now 16 seasons leading the franchise, including a 154-98 record in the regular season.
He guided Baltimore to an 11-5 season in his first year at the helm and reached the AFC Championship Game before falling 23-14 to the eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
MORE: NFL Head Coach Rankings 2023
Harbaugh’s Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII to cap off the 2012 season, defeating brother Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers by a score of 34-31 in the process. Jim now coaches at the University of Michigan and is suspended for the remainder of the 2023 regular season amid a sign-stealing scandal.
John has helped Baltimore remain successful since then, helping the franchise finish .500 or better in all but two of the last 10 seasons, and is on track for another strong season this year.
Strong Start to 2023
Baltimore has been among the league’s best teams thus far in 2023 under Harbaugh’s tutelage.
Lamar Jackson has led the way offensively, completing 194 of 276 pass attempts for 2,177 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions while also running for 481 yards and five more scores. Gus Edwards has provided a punch at running back, while wide receiver Zay Flowers and tight end Mark Andrews have been strong receiving options.
That, combined with a defense that’s well outpacing the league in defense-adjusted value over average at 44.8% (San Francisco is second at 35.8%), has made for a formidable squad few teams have been able to defeat.
It took a late comeback effort for the Cleveland Browns to win in Week 10, while the Indianapolis Colts won 22-19 in overtime, and the Pittsburgh Steelers prevailed 17-10 in Week 5 behind a host of mistakes by the Ravens.
There’s still plenty of time for injuries and variance to play a part in this NFL season, but Harbaugh appears to have another contender-level Ravens team on his hands.
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