The Baltimore Ravens have a coaching staff that is set to spin with endless changes. After firing their longtime head coach John Harbaugh, many coaches are set to depart and will more than likely join Harbaugh with the New York Giants. Many of those moves have already happened.
With the Ravens hiring Jesse Minter as their next head coach on Thursday, other coaches are following suit. On Sunday, the team learned that special teams coordinator Chris Horton will be packing his bags for New York, as well.
The Giants are hiring Chris Horton as their assistant head coach/special teams coordinator, per sources.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 25, 2026
It’s a reunion for John Harbaugh and Horton, a former NFL DB who spent the past 11 seasons on Harbaugh’s staff in Baltimore. pic.twitter.com/GbbO4C3Lcz
Horton is an interesting case; Baltimore initially blocked teams from pursuing Horton this coaching cycle. However, with a new coach officially in town, Minter was more than fine letting the longtime Ravens coach explore other opportunities. Now, he’ll stay with Harbaugh for the foreseeable future.
Ravens lose Chris Horton to Harbaugh’s Giants
It should come as no shock that Horton and Harbaugh had mutual interest in reuniting. Horton got his NFL coaching career started under Harbaugh, earning a spot as the assistant special teams coach from 2014 to 2018. Then he earned a promotion to the lead special teams coach in 2019, where he coached in Charm City up until 2025. He’ll inherit the same role with the Giants and also add assistant head coach to his resume.
While Horton was a staple over Baltimore’s coaching staff for over a decade, it’s clear that it was time for both parties to move on. Sure, punter Jordan Stout had a career-year, earning first-team All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl nod, each for the first time in his career. However, outside of that, the team’s special teams performance was very lackluster.
In a year where the kickoff rules significantly benefited the return units, the Ravens didn’t really take advantage of that. They were gashed on big returns, but when their chances came, they very rarely did anything with their kick returns. They didn’t have much success on punt returns either.
Kicker Tyler Loop had a rough rookie year, too. His range was a problem, going for one-for-four on kicks from 50 yards and beyond. The more glaring issue was his kickoffs, though. Loop was tied for the league lead in both landing zone penalties and kicks out of bounds with four each. Those were obviously backbreakers, especially for a defense that struggled mightily throughout the year.
Baltimore was already looking for replacements at the offensive and defensive coordinator spots, and with Horton gone, they’ll add special teams coordinator to that checklist.