Why John Harbaugh is in a great situation heading into the season

It must be a great time to be the Baltimore Ravens head coach, John Harbaugh:

The narrative going into John Harbaugh’s 12th season as the Baltimore Ravens head coach is a much more positive one. The 2017 Baltimore Ravens missed the playoffs in the most frustrating way possible and Harbaugh was facing a playoffs or bust season. From 2013-2017 the Ravens had one playoff appearance and Harbaugh was on the hot seat.

Harbaugh is going into a completely different situation this year. The Ravens are the defending AFC North champions. Harbaugh just helped the team orchestrate an unlikely come from behind division title, knocking the Pittsburgh Steelers off the division throne.

The Ravens are younger all across the board than they ever have been while Harbaugh was the head coach. Most of the core players for the future are still on rookie deals. Mark Andrews, Hayden Hurst, Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin, and Orlando Brown Jr. are all players that have been brought in to build around Lamar Jackson.

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Jackson is the new franchise quarterback and Harbaugh is starting a new era of Ravens football. Joe Flacco had been Harbaugh’s quarterback for his entire career as a head coach. It had become an uphill struggle with diminishing results. It became clearer and clearer that the purple and black had to try something new. That something new is an exciting new quarterback and a new and fresh focus on the offense.

For the first time in the soon to be 12 season run, Harbaugh has the right pair of coordinators around him. Greg Roman is an innovative offensive mind with a track record of working with young and mobile quarterbacks. Don Martindale got the Ravens back to a brand of defensive dominance that had been missing in the previous few seasons.

Owner, Steve Bisciotti, has always been keen on continuity. Most owners in the NFL would have turned on Harbaugh through his three-year playoff drought. Bisciotti thought he hired the right coach in 2008 and he stuck it out. There have been some frustrating times but Baltimore football has more hope than it has had in a long time. The Ravens don’t have to start over from scratch because they have a tried and tested head coach.

Unless the Ravens were a horrible disappointment this season, Harbaugh can’t lose. Certainly a 4-12 record would paint the Ravens into a very tough corner. However a half way decent season is all that Harbaugh needs to come out of the year with plenty of favor from the organization. Harbaugh has what equates to a brand new team to work with. If Jackson is the guy and the past two draft classes were as strong as analysts think they were, a new window is opening up for Harbaugh.

The Ravens could be a team on the rise. This could be the beginning of something very strong. The Ravens salary cap situation heading into 2020 will be very promising. The Ravens just need to be in the mix for the division crown in 2019. They need to be competitive and not fall off a cliff. It’s a good spot to be in for Harbaugh.

It has to be an exciting time to be John Harbaugh. He has a golden opportunity to take his stock higher than it has ever been. If he manages to make the Ravens a perennial contender again his legacy would positively multiply.