After 18 years together, the Baltimore Ravens fired John Harbaugh, sending shockwaves through the NFL. It wasn't necessarily that shocking to Ravens fans and those paying close attention that Harbaugh was finally sent packing given his seat has gotten pretty warm the past few seasons.
Anytime a head coach gets let go, whether he's been at his previous job for a few years or over a decade like Harbaugh had, people will often wonder if the coach in question "lost the locker room". Harbaugh won't be exempt from those discussions, but Jamison Hensley of ESPN didn't seem to think the now former Ravens head coach had lost the locker room. Hensley was asked by Dan Patrick that very question and said he didn't think so.
"I did not get that sense," Hensley said on The Dan Patrick Show. "If you look at the last couple of games at Green Bay, where it was a must win, at Pittsburgh, where it was a must win, if John Harbaugh lost the locker room, they would have lost those games by a wide margin. They were still fighting. And I think that is a sign that John Harbaugh hadn't lost that locker room."
This is a good point that needs to be made. The Ravens players could have simply rolled over and stopped trying in the final few weeks of the season but they continued to play hard for Harbaugh.
Ravens reporter doesn't think John Harbaugh had lost the locker room
So, then why was Harbaugh fired? If he didn't lose the locker room and appeared to be well-respected still, what led to this decision finally happening? Hensley touched on that as well.
"There's a feeling that Harbaugh, after 18 years, he had kind of run his course here. And he had Lamar Jackson for eight years, three playoff wins. Maybe the perception was maybe it was time to give somebody else a chance because Lamar Jackson is not going to play forever."
This really truly feels like a reset for both the Ravens and for Harbaugh. The Ravens can finally move on from Harbaugh, find someone that can get Lamar Jackson back to his MVP form and this Ravens team back to a Super Bowl, and Harbaugh can start fresh somewhere else. Harbaugh is still a good coach and it's good to hear that, even in his final few weeks as the Ravens head coach, was still someone the players wanted to play hard for.
Harbaugh will be a popular candidate amongst the other six teams searching for a new person to run their ship but it was clear that he wasn't the right person to do that in Baltimore anymore. A fresh start for both sides.