A first round bye, home playoff game and franchise tying best record could be enough to get John Harbaugh some national love for the NFL’s Coach of the Year. In his marathon column on Monday, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King listed Harbaugh at number five for the honor after 14 weeks of play. Harbs was listed behind little Harbaugh, his brother Jim in San Francisco, Mike McCarthy in Green Bay, Gary Kubiak in Houston and John Fox in Denver.
5. John Harbaugh, Baltimore. Since he took the job in 2008, Harbaugh has been chasing the Steelers with his Ravens. This year they swept Pittsburgh and are in position to play at home in the playoffs for the first time since the Brian Billick-Steve McNair Ravens of 2006.
Folks in Baltimore love them some John Harbaugh, too much so in my opinion. I don’t dislike our coach, I just think that Steve Bisciotti’s second candidate for replacing Brian Billick to take over a team led by the greatest linebacker of all time just six years removed from a Super Bowl might get more credit than he deserves for the current direction of the franchise. I guess what I’m trying to say is that an eight year old in a headset could take this roster to the playoffs, what happens after that can be credited to the coach.
I will say this though. Losing out on Jason Garrett was one of the best things that happened to Bisciotti and Ravens fans alike. Seeing that guy ice his own kicker, mis-manage the clock and timeouts and generally look baffled for 60 minutes in front of the 100,000 southerners at Jerry Jones Palace in Dallas does make me happy after the smug Garrett turned down the Baltimore job to stay in Texas.
No matter where they finish in the conference, there’s still an obstacle to climb for the Ravens this postseason. A matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers in January is highly likely and even though Baltimore swept them during the regular season, they still need to prove they can do it when it matters most. If Harbaugh can lead his many mighty men over Pittsburgh in the playoffs, then we can talk about Coach of the Year honors. Until then, little Harbs on the left coast is my winner.
Zach Wilt is the Founding Editor of BaltimoreSportsReport.com and host of the BSR Podcast. You can email him at: zach@baltimoresportsreport.com, follow him on twitter @zamwi or get in touch with the podcast at podcast@baltimoresportsreport.com or 443-379-4BSR (4377).
Harbaugh is a great cheer leader– you will find him on the sidelines saying words of football wisdom like way to go-good job- isn’t this fun. the problem is– he does not know offense or defense–Nor special teams although this is only what he did in Phil) on offense he relys on cameron who all balto fans hope will be fired.( the 3 losses were his poor decision to run rice etc.) on defense he relys on pegn., lewis, and reed. He never has an offensive chart for calls or defensive talks to players as they come off the field– what he does well is just cheer
yes the coach of the year
Maybe he could be “Cheerleader of the Year”?!?!
Ravens are going to the superbowl this year and Harbaugh is going to take them there. He is the perfect coach for the ravens. Get the original Ball So Hard University t-shirt only at http://www.tonytshirt.com
Why should he get “Coach of the year”? The Ravens were almost unanimously picked to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. My coach of the year candidates would be his brother Jim of course,
Mike Munchak of Tennessee, Gary Kubiak for Finally getting the Texans in the playoffs, John Fox for the great job he has done with Tim Tebow, and the Broncos, and Marvin Lewis with a rookie QB. I pick the Chargers to beat the Ravens 27-17.
I agree with the Kubiak nod. Even with key injuries during the season (Foster, Johnson, Schaub), Kubiak has been able to keep that team on track and playing some of the best football in the NFL.
Frankly, I believe Harbaugh has done a poor job this year based on those three losses. All were gimme games, and Harbaugh did not have his team up to play, in addition to the Cam Cameron fiascos. The Ravens have the talent and had the schedule to go undefeated this year if Harbaugh would have had the team ready to go in similar fashion to Week 1 throughout the season.
Peter King said he was the fifth candidate. That sounds about right and is a far cry from saying he’s the best coach. McCarthy, Fox, and Jim Harbs, in no particular, are more deserving. That said, saying he shouldn’t be a recognized as a good coach becuase he has good players is ridiculous. I guess Belichick doesn’t know what he’s doing; he’s just been blessed with a great QB.