On Tuesday, the Baltimore Ravens decided to move on from head coach John Harbaugh after 18 seasons. Undoubtedly, Harbaugh had an amazing career in Baltimore, but it was time to move on. He consistently underwhelmed in the playoffs (and failed to make it this season), lost the locker room, and displayed poor decision-making down the stretch of games.
While Ravens fans are thrilled to start a new era, it's hard not to look back two years ago and wonder what-if they had moved on from Harbaugh and promoted defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.
Now the Ravens went to the conference championship with a 13-4 record that season, so it wasn't all that likely they would have moved on from Harbaugh. Still, it wasn't totally impossible, and the Ravens are certainly wondering what would have happened if Macdonald had stuck around in one way or another.
An interesting “what if” in all of this is that Baltimore had Mike Macdonald on staff — and he’s now doing wonders in Seattle.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 6, 2026
The Ravens went 13–4 and made the AFC Championship Game the year Macdonald left, so there was never a realistic scenario of moving on from John… https://t.co/YzaGupQ2mh pic.twitter.com/YqH8wnodUU
We all know how Harbaugh's tenure went. With Seattle, though, Macdonald has blossomed into one of the best coaches, going 10-7 last season and 13-4, earning the No. 1 seed this season. The Ravens lost all of their defensive identity when Macdonald left.
Finding a coach better than Macdonald will be difficult
It's unclear who the Ravens' next HC will be, but it will be unlikely they'll find someone as good as Macdonald. That's not to say they can't find a good coach, but Macdonald is truly an elite coach.
As of now, Jesse Minter, Klint Kubiak, Brian Flores, Chris Shula, and Kliff Kingsbury are some possible head coaching targets. Minter and Flores would be my personal favorites. Frankly, these all seem like good options, though, and it's of course possible that another candidate emerges.
It will be interesting to see if the Ravens roll the dice with a coordinator like Minter or opt for someone with head coaching experience like Flores. With how long Harbaugh has been in Baltimore, it's challenging to know. However, it's worth noting that Harbaugh was only a special teams coordinator before getting the Ravens job.
Despite having some high-quality options, each of these coaches has some risks. While he was a young coordinator at the time, Macdonald was a safe bet to be a great head coach. During Macdonald's two seasons as the Ravens' DC, Baltimore was a top-three scoring defense (first in 2023) and top 10 in opposing yards. Perhaps outside of John's brother Jim, Macdonald was the prized possession of the 2024 coaching cycle -- no coach exists this time around.
Given how successful his early tenure in Seattle has been, I don't think it's far-fetched to suggest that Macdonald is already a top-five coach. These guys don't grow on trees.
If the Ravens nail their next coach, the pain of not losing Macdonald will be eased. However, if they don't, Macdonald's success will be a painful reminder of what could have been.