There comes a point in every person’s life when the wagging finger of blame must be pointed back at one’s self.
If a person has been fired from six jobs over the course of a year, well, maybe it’s not necessarily the fault of six other individuals who did each separate firing. Fourth divorce? Third felony arrest?
See where I’m going here?
It’s safe to say that Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh has been through some offensive coordinators during his tenure in Baltimore.
Cam Cameron — fired because of a stagnant offense.
Jim Caldwell — left for the greener pastures of a head-coaching opportunity, but things weren’t going so great after that magical Super Bowl run.
Gary Kubiak — great hire who had success, but left for the big job in Denver.
Marc Trestman — smart guy who was an absolute train wreck guiding the Ravens offense.
Marty Mornhinweg — made me long for Trestman (partly because I always struggled spelling his name, and partly because his offenses stunk on ice).
Greg Roman — terrific start, middling middle and kind of a let’s-kick-the-carcass-to-see-if-it’s-still-alive ending.
Looking back, you had a good year with Kubiak calling the plays, a handful of games that caught fire under Caldwell and a mixed bag with Roman that had most certainly run its course.
And now, well, we are on to the next one.
It’s fair to ask if this will be Harbaugh’s final offensive coordinator hire, unless this coach comes in, takes the offense to new heights and moves on to greener pastures. Another struggling attack, particularly with a good team elsewhere, and it’s safe to say the volume on a head-coaching change would get cranked up to ear-splitting levels.
We’ve clearly entered pattern-of-behavior levels here, and for a coach who proclaims the need for accountability amongst his players and assistants to anyone who will listen, it might be time to see exactly where that finger is pointed if the next hire produces a similar level of impotence.
I’m a Harbaugh guy. I liked him his first year in Baltimore when he led the team and its rookie quarterback to an AFC Championship Game performance, celebrated when he brought home the organization’s second Super Bowl trophy a few years later and enjoyed his sense of humor and enthusiasm the few times when I have been around him. He has a terrific appreciation of the importance of hard work and details — and I saw that up close when he was asking a mob of us about the colors of the revamped locker room following last summer’s stadium practice.
It all matters to him. Every bit of it.
And that’s what you want from your leader.
But if this next hire doesn’t work out, and a promising rest-of-the-team gets derailed by a sputtering offense once again, it’s fair to ask questions. Harbaugh, above all others, should expect that kind of accountability.
He should expect that finger coming back at him next time.
7 Responses
Great read Mr mcCan, it’s late but about time the conversation about Harb needs to be had. The fact he has no system on offense or defense should alarm pple. I have screamed about this guy for years. If harb was an offensive guy, he would have his system then it wouldn’t matter who come or goes. Everything everyone screams about Harb being great is found in all coaches.
Fact is Harb is nothing special.
The sooner Harb is fired, the sooner we can get our identity back
Fire Harb now…..
Steve Bisciotti is no David Tepper, Michael Bidwill, or Cal McNair (thank God) so he will let Harbaugh’s tenure run its course for a bit longer. Bisciotti wasn’t hesitant to pull the trigger on Brian Billick but that was easy. He wasn’t Steve’s guy. Harbs is. I think he’s signed through 2025 at something north of 8-9 mil a year so Bisciotti, being a self-made billionaire who knows how to make a buck or two, will not easily cut lose a guy owed over $25 million so he can enjoy early retirement.
That said, this is a fair column with some fair questions. This hire will be scrutinized like no other coordinator hire in Ravens history. Harbaugh has to get this right. And if it doesn’t work out, his head should be on the chopping block. No question.
Darrin, I’m not sure it’s fair to pin it to the coordinator. Because even with the right coordinator you still have to have the right QB too. I don’t believe we have that right now. So bringing in a new OC won’t do much for the team until they address the QB position as well.
No blame for Harbs unless Lamar still here. Majority of current blame is on FO more than Roman and Harbs. When Lamar is healthy and has no true No 1 WR in he 45-16 with 28ppg. I shudder to think what happens if we traded for a Diggs, Brown, Adams or Hill or drafted a Pickens or McLaurin. These coaches would look a lot smarter. Lazy fans and media always scapegoat wrong people
Aside from his hiring/firing issues, he has a 15 year history of nagging game day problems with clock management and strategy decisions, including inability or unwillingness to make halftime adjustments! He’s just not a good HC in my opinion…..
I can’t tell who’s dumber, the guy who wrote the article or the other commenters.
If I was some hot shot young OC this is the last team I would want to come to. But I guarantee you there is somebody young probably in D1 who goes to bed thinking every night I could fix this Ravens offense and make Lamar a MVP again.