Ravens coach John Harbaugh signs 3-year contract extension

Brian Wacker, Baltimore Sun on Mar 28, 2025

Published in Football

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BALTIMORE — Ravens coach John Harbaugh has signed a three-year contract extension through the 2028 season, the team announced Friday.

The move was expected for Harbaugh, whose three-year contract was set to expire after the 2025 season. Though exact terms were not announced, he likely will remain among the NFL’s highest-paid coaches.

It also comes after what was a successful but ultimately disappointing season.

Harbaugh, 62, is the winningest coach in the franchise’s 29-year history with an overall record of 185-115 over 17 seasons, which is also the third-most wins among active coaches in the league. That includes a 12-5 mark this past regular season when Baltimore won its second straight AFC North title and sixth overall division crown under Harbaugh but fell to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round.

His 12 playoff appearances are also tied for the second-most in the league behind only Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s 20, and he is the second-longest tenured coach in the league behind only the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin.

Regular-season dominance hasn’t exactly translated to postseason success of late, however.

Harbaugh, who has a career 13-11 record in the playoffs, has guided the Ravens past the divisional round just once since the Ravens’ Super Bowl title in the 2012 season. That came in 2023, when Baltimore finished with the best record in the conference (13-4) during the regular season before losing to the Chiefs, 17-10, in the AFC championship game at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Ravens also have the dubious distinction of having the most wins (78) in the regular season since 2018 — quarterback Lamar Jackson’s first year in the league — without a Super Bowl appearance.

Still, owner Steve Bisciotti has long had no interest in having a coach in a lame duck situation.

General manager Eric DeCosta also noted Harbaugh’s adaptability through the years.

“John’s changed a lot over the years, in different ways — in mostly all good ways,” DeCosta said during the team’s season-ending news conference. “But when I say that, I think his passion for the team [and] for winning has never wavered. He’s resolute in his beliefs, [and] he’s a man of faith. He comes to work every day, and that’s inspiring, because he has a passion at practice every day that’s probably unmatched amongst anybody — players [and] coaches.”

That paid off when it came to navigating several challenges on and off the field this past season.

Baltimore started the season 0-2, which included an ugly loss at home to the Las Vegas Raiders. Rookie defensive coordinator Zach Orr also struggled early so Harbaugh hired Dean Pees as a senior adviser five games into the year.

There was also the unexpected death of beloved and respected offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris in August.

Then there was the hole Baltimore found itself in. After a Week 13 loss at home to the eventual NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, the Ravens trailed the division leading Steelers by two games with just four to play.

But Baltimore erased the deficit by sweeping its final four games, including a 34-17 win over the Steelers in Baltimore followed four days later by a 31-2 blowout of the Texans in Houston on Christmas Day. The Ravens then clinched the division with a rout of the Cleveland Browns in the final game of the regular season before easily knocking off the Steelers in a wild-card game at M&T Bank Stadium.

But Harbaugh is also acutely aware of the criticism over the Ravens’ postseason foibles and is resolute about their chances going forward.

“If you look at our team this year and in the past, for the past 17 years, you don’t see us getting blown out,” he said. “You don’t see us falling apart. You’re either in a game or in the season. You always see us fighting back. I think that is the real measuring stick; not the narrative that, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that.’

“And you keep striving forward to stack those games together and put three or four really good games together, error-free games together, and go ahead and win a Super Bowl. And when you do that, it’s really a great accomplishment. So, we’re capable of doing that. We put ourselves into position to do that, and we’ll keep striving for that. So, if I’ve learned anything, I’ve learned that.” ourselves into position to do that, and we’ll keep striving for that. So, if I’ve learned anything, I’ve learned that.”