Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is in a very weird place with the fanbase. While he is clearly the greatest coach in franchise history after compiling 160 wins (and counting) to go along with a championship, many fans have grown increasingly irritated with his recent performance.
While Harbaugh has consistently built himself a winning team around the exploits of MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, even going 14-3 as recently as last season, the fact Baltimore has won just two playoffs in the Jackson era while losing multiple crushing games at home has some fans calling for his ouster.
Despite Baltimore starting to get a bit perturbed with how Harbaugh does business, the general NFL media is still very much in his corner. There are few coaches in NFL history who have been able to make the playoffs 11 times in 16 years.
Pro Football Focus ranked all returning head coaches in the NFL, and Harbaugh came in third behind only last year's Super Bowl participants in Andy Reid and Kyle Shanahan. Bug names like Sean McVay and Mike Tomlin were viewed as inadequate when compared to Harbaugh.
The main reason PFF was so high on Harbaugh was his decisions at coordinator, as he brought in Mike Macdonald and Todd Monken during the last two years. Harbaugh hasn't sent the Ravens to a Super Bowl in a decade, but winning double-digit games essentially every year is nothing to sneeze at.
Baltimore Ravens HC John Harbaugh ranked 3rd in NFL by PFF
Macdonald might be gone, but Zach Orr seems to have taken to his new leadership role. Fans might be upset with Monken's refusal to run the ball in the AFC Championship, but the total body of work he put together alongside Jackson validated the decision to move away from Greg Roman.
Harbaugh is in the same spot Tomlin finds himself in with the Steelers. Both coaches have rings, and both coaches put together playoff teams every year. However, dynasties like New England and Kansas City have prevented them from getting to the Super Bowl, and years of playoff failures (especially as favorites) take their toll on a fanbase.
While Harbaugh will need to prove he can overcome his playoff demons, the fact he is such a floor-raiser will guarantee that Baltimore will be in the playoffs (barring injury) this season. If he fizzles out in embarrassing fashion again, the team might start thinking about a fresh face coming in.