Ravens Elevate John Harbaugh

On Saturday, the Baltimore Ravens hired Philadelphia Eagles Secondary Coach John Harbaugh. According to Harbaugh, he is not a compromise hire. “As far as being perceived as the second choice ... that's irrelevant to me,” Harbaugh said. “I never thought about it in those terms, never would. It doesn't matter. It's an opportunity to go forward.”

According to Owner Steve Bisciotti, Harbaugh is the correct choice. “Do I like a guy that has to earn his resume? Yeah. I kind of made a living on hiring people with thin resumes and it's worked out pretty well for me in the last 25 years,” Bisciotti said. “I think that works to John's advantage. I said three weeks ago you have to take chances to be successful. You have to be willing to do things that the masses wouldn't do, or I don't think you will be able to separate yourself from the masses. Is it a little bit more of a perceived chance? Yeah, but the time we spent with John Harbaugh gave me a comfort level that we hired the right guy. You go with your instincts, and I have pretty good instincts. ... I like the fact that John gets to build his legend right here.”

In 1999, the Ravens hired glitzy. Brian Billick was a renowned coordinator. Harbaugh is an unknown. He may succeed. However, one must state the obvious. When Billick was fired, the Ravens expected improvement. They hired a position coach.