Ebony Bird
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John Harbaugh: Strengths and weaknesses of the Ravens coach

By Chris Schisler

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JANUARY 11: Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson #8 embrace prior to the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at M&T Bank Stadium on January 11, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JANUARY 11: Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson #8 embrace prior to the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at M&T Bank Stadium on January 11, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – JANUARY 11: Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens reacts during the second half in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at M&T Bank Stadium on January 11, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – JANUARY 11: Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens reacts during the second half in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at M&T Bank Stadium on January 11, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Harbaugh’s Weaknesses:

One problem Harbaugh has is that he places a great amount of the work on his offensive and defensive coordinators. Harbaugh is loyal to a fault when it comes to his coaching staff and his struggle to find the right offensive coordinator has been an issue more than once. The Ravens have either fired or replaced the following coordinators since 2008: Cam Cameron, Jim Caldwell, Gary Kubiak, Marc Trestman and Marty Mornhinweg.

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The defensive coordinator position has been tricky for him as well. Greg Mattison was promoted from within to become the defensive coordinator that replaced Chuck Pagano. It didn’t go well. Dean Pees had a habit of letting quarterbacks steal games from him at the end. It led to a lot of heartbreak and Harbaugh stuck with Pees for six seasons. It got old.

When Andy Dalton ended the 2017 Ravens season with a last second touchdown, it felt like it might be time for a change. Sure, Pees had to go, yet that wasn’t the only change the franchise was forced to think about. Harbaugh had a stretch where he was legitimately on the hot seat.

He had a stretch where his teams were too competent to get the Ravens a high draft pick and too frustrating to get to the playoffs. Harbaugh has rebounded from this. We can throw away the hot seat, we just can’t forget that it was there. It was there for a reason.

Harbaugh is a good game planner but he is a horrible in game adjuster. That was painfully obvious during the Ravens’ loss to the Titans that ended a magical 2019 season. When his coordinators need to be reeled in he gives them too much room to operate. When he finally decides to change course, it’s often too late. He believes in his guys. He stubbornly believes in the game plan and doesn’t improvise until it becomes painfully obvious that something is not working.

Harbaugh is also known to mismanage situational football. His decision to become more aggressive in general on fourth down situations may be in part to make this easier on him. There are times when the clock is managed poorly at the end of a half or in the fourth quarter. How many times has he called a timeout, decided to challenge a play just to lose the challenge? That’s a serious question for you because it feels like it’s been a decent number of times.

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