John Harbaugh’s departure is in the Baltimore Ravens’ rearview. Now, it’s time for the franchise to focus on getting the most out of its two-time MVP quarterback, Lamar Jackson, by landing a seasoned head coach who can best position the Ravens to win another Lombardi Trophy.
For a team that failed to reach the postseason for the first time in four seasons and has not played in a Super Bowl since winning it all in 2012, the Ravens’ parting ways with their longtime head coach shows that the team’s brass is no longer satisfied with the status quo. The next coach must be the right coach, who can fully take advantage of Jackson’s unique skill as he just turned 29 and is still in his prime.
But complicating matters for the Ravens and their new coach, Jackson has two years remaining on his five-year, $260 million contract and wants a new deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the league. Baltimore’s vacancy is the best of the seven head coaching jobs available, as my colleague Ben Arthur noted in his head coach vacancy rankings, because of the stability provided by owner Steve Bisciotti, one of the most respected NFL general managers in Eric DeCosta and a roster led by Jackson that’s ready to win now.
So, here are five candidates that could make sense for Baltimore, taking full advantage of the transcendent talent of Jackson while infusing the franchise with new energy and creating a culture that puts the Ravens back on track in chasing a Super Bowl.
[Coaching Carousel: The 9 Strongest Head Coach Candidates for NFL Vacancies]
5. Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator
Brian Flores has helped the Vikings have one of many league’s prime defenses over the past couple of years. (Picture by Luke Hales/Getty Photos)
Flores completed 24-25 as a head coach for the Miami Dolphins earlier than being proven the door in Miami. Since then, he’s guided one of the vital progressive and harmful defenses within the league for Minnesota for 3 seasons.
Flores’ lawsuit towards the NFL might complicate issues and his hard-charging teaching model isn’t for everybody — simply ask Tua Tagovailoa. Nonetheless, the addition of Flores would enhance an underperforming protection and supply a disciplined strategy for the Ravens transferring ahead. However an apparent query can be who Flores would deliver with him to function an offensive coordinator to get probably the most out of Jackson, and the way these two would coexist within the constructing.
4. Kevin Stefanski, former Cleveland Browns head coach
Kevin Stefanski gained Coach of the 12 months twice throughout his Browns tenure, however missed the playoffs in his 4 different seasons with Cleveland. (Picture by Justin Casterline/Getty Photos)
A two-time NFL coach of the yr, Stefanski is taken into account one of many brightest offensive minds within the recreation and will jumpstart an offense led by top-tier offensive expertise like Jackson. Stefanski can also be intimately conversant in the Ravens and their tradition, having confronted them twice a yr in main Cleveland within the AFC North. Stefanski completed 45-56 in six seasons as the pinnacle coach for the Browns.
Nonetheless, the Ravens must work out why the Browns moved on from a proficient head coach like Stefanski, how he would develop a profitable tradition in Baltimore and what his interplay can be like with foundational gamers like Jackson. Together with that, determining who Stefanski would herald to guide the protection can be a key query earlier than hiring him.
3. Klint Kubiak, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator
Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has emerged as a prime identify to look at within the teaching carousel this offseason. (Picture by Christian Petersen/Getty Photos)
In simply his first season in Seattle, Kubiak has guided one of the vital explosive offenses within the NFL, serving to Sam Darnold carry out at a Professional Bowl degree for a second straight season and making a constant operating recreation grounded within the zone operating scheme.
The son of former Ravens offensive coordinator and longtime NFL head coach Gary Kubiak, the youthful Kubiak has the pedigree and persona to command a room. Although he has by no means been a head coach, gamers who’ve performed for him reward his no-nonsense demeanor, dry wit and detailed strategy. And Baltimore can be plucking certainly one of Seattle’s finest coaches after common supervisor John Schneider did the identical factor two years in the past by wooing former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to develop into that workforce’s head coach.
Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has beforehand labored for the Ravens. Do his previous ties to Baltimore make him a favourite for the job? (Picture by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photos)
Minter is aware of the constructing, having served as a defensive assistant for 4 seasons in Baltimore from 2017-20. He’s additionally labored for John Harbaugh’s brother Jim Harbaugh, with the Los Angeles Chargers, orchestrating one of many top-performing defenses within the league over the past two seasons. Minter’s carried out that with less-than-ideal expertise on that facet of the soccer.
Minter brings creativity and innovation defensively, operating the same system schematically on that facet of the soccer already in place in Baltimore. However he can also command a room, has expertise working in L.A. with one of the vital proficient quarterbacks within the league in Justin Herbert and can present a contemporary management model from the pinnacle teaching chair. Minter’s father, Rick Minter, served as the pinnacle coach of the Cincinnati Bengals for 9 seasons and at the moment works as a senior defensive analyst for the Chargers.
1. Robert Saleh, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator
Robert Saleh has emerged as a prime identify within the teaching carousel a yr after getting fired as the pinnacle coach of the New York Jets because of his work because the 49ers’ defensive coordinator. (Picture by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Photos)
Nobody has carried out extra with much less as a coordinator this season. Saleh has needed to scheme round not having two of the most effective defensive gamers within the league in linebacker Fred Warner and edge rusher Nick Bosa, however nonetheless has San Francisco performing effectively sufficient defensively that the 49ers have superior to the postseason.
Saleh is popular with gamers but in addition presents a powerful presence as a pacesetter of a franchise. He completed 20-36 in three-plus seasons as head coach of the New York Jets. Nonetheless, Saleh appears to be like even higher after leaving the Jets, watching the dysfunction of the franchise happen since he left.
Saleh should deliver an offensive coordinator with a background in a Kyle Shanahan-style offense that might take advantage of Jackson and his distinctive ability set. And he has sturdy interpersonal relationship abilities to navigate Jackson’s persona. Saleh interviewed for head teaching jobs with the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars final season. The Arizona Cardinals have already requested to interview Saleh for his or her vacant head teaching job this yr. So, there’s curiosity in Saleh throughout the league.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for greater than a decade, masking the Los Angeles Rams for Sports activities Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma Information Tribune. Observe him on X at @eric_d_williams.
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