Behind the scenes look at the hiring of John Harbaugh

**pslholder96** · 10-10-2012, 06:05 PM

Interesting read on how the front office arrived at their decision to hire John Harbaugh

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/...8-94D91B0D7BE5

**lobachevsky** · 10-10-2012, 07:15 PM

FWIW that writeup is dated January 19, 2008, so it ain't zackly breaking news.

I didn't find it either particularly well written or particularly informative. The most interesting part to me was how they structured the initial interviews, but even that was pretty dull management boilerplate. But hey, as Beau might say, chacun a son gout...

**Filmstudy** · 10-10-2012, 08:11 PM

There was an article about it several years ago that was somewhat longer in either a Gameday magazine or an offseason publication by the Ravens (this may be an excerpt from that article, but there were some specifics on Harbaugh's responses which I don't see here). It was detailed and informative. What fascinated me was how well structured the process was (much of which is captured in this article).

I can't understate the importance of having an owner that made his money in recruiting. They aren't the only folks that know how to hire talent, but he's proven to be outstanding at building an organization that can sustain itself.

I copied that article for all the other officers at work.

**rastaman831226** · 10-11-2012, 09:49 AM

Was this article written on company stationary? Reads more like a Ravens memo than an informative piece. At the end of the day, the Ravens' brass put a good Ravens team in the hands of a career Philadelphia Eagles special teams coach with no HC experience in his lifetime. The results-four straight forays into the playoffs with four straight dumps. That's not good enough.

**Coastergenius** · 10-11-2012, 02:17 PM

No, he took a 5-11 team whose window had closed and previous head coach had abandoned them and turned them into a perrenial playoff team and Super Bowl threat.

**festivus** · 10-11-2012, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by Coastergenius

No, he took a 5-11 team whose window had closed and previous head coach had abandoned them and turned them into a perrenial playoff team and Super Bowl threat.

Eh. I'm glad we have John but there's no cause to urinate all over Billick. John has, after all, had the benefit of the best QB and best RB this organization has ever had. He didn't "abandon" them, they just had a bad year. Teams will do that, particularly teams with sucky quarterbacks.

**Terpsfan82** · 10-11-2012, 10:17 PM

Originally Posted by Coastergenius

No, he took a 5-11 team whose window had closed and previous head coach had abandoned them and turned them into a perrenial playoff team and Super Bowl threat.

Get back to me when he wins a SB, you know, like the coach who "abandoned" them.

**saintmatthew** · 10-12-2012, 09:19 AM

Well, if all you want is a super bowl, tune in when they get there again. Honestly, the super bowl in 2000 was awesome, but other than that, it was painful watching them take a shit every 2 out of three years, and yes, despite going 5-11 I sat through every game to the ugly bitter end. Only one team can win a SB each year. We've threatened nearly every year. More important, we go into every game of the season, including the playoffs knowing we have a good chance to win which is a lot more fun than watching them implode, say like vs. Detroit 2005. I'd rather watch a solid competitive team that is a contender each year than a turd that finds a way to float to the top once every five-ten years.

**RavensDomination** · 10-12-2012, 11:06 AM

I remember I was painting my basement purple listening to WNST talk about Jason Garrett. It seemed like it was a sure thing, but then they found out he was basically just using us as leverage to get more money from Jerry Jones. Then later in the day the rumors were that John Harbaugh had been hired. I was thinking "what? A special teams coach?" When I heard Bisciotti talk so highly of Harbaugh I felt a lot better. Now I hope we kick Garrett's teeth in on Sunday.

**BcRaven** · 10-12-2012, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by RavensDomination

I remember I was painting my basement purple listening to WNST talk about Jason Garrett. It seemed like it was a sure thing, but then they found out he was basically just using us as leverage to get more money from Jerry Jones. Then later in the day the rumors were that John Harbaugh had been hired. I was thinking "what? A special teams coach?" When I heard Bisciotti talk so highly of Harbaugh I felt a lot better. Now I hope we kick Garrett's teeth in on Sunday.

RD, your experience is similar to mine...except that I was taking my sister-in-law out for another free meal at the time

. I was puzzled by Harbaugh's hiring, but am pleased now. Don't worry, the Ravens will beat the 'Boys on Sunday (27 - 17 ?)... Bc

**don raven** · 10-12-2012, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by BcRaven

RD, your experience is similar to mine...except that I was taking my sister-in-law out for another free meal at the time

. I was puzzled by Harbaugh's hiring, but am pleased now. Don't worry, the Ravens will beat the 'Boys on Sunday (27 - 17 ?)... Bc

This article raises more questions than answers. Who were the other 4 candidates?Was Belichick the unsolicited endorsement. Why were no former head coaches on the final list and who were they? Did they make the same offer to Harbs as Garrett. Who were the assistants that Garrett would have brought? Bottom line- Harbs has worked out great. I hope he is with us for a while.If hw has ant weakness, it's his process for selecting assistants and coordinators. There is too much cronyism in the selection process. I'd like to see Harbs select strictly on talent and not familiarity or past personal history.

**RavenScallywag** · 10-13-2012, 11:54 PM

I can recall a few candidates...Both Marty and Brian Schottenheimer were in there. We also interviewed...Caldwell and Sparano. Caldwell and Sparano were kind've formalities, because Sparano was already linked to the Miami spot with Parcells, and Caldwell was basically all but assured the Colts job after Dungy left. Marty was the popular choice around town, and it always felt like we interviewed Brian as a favor to him.

Belichik was the endorsement, he came out and talked about it later.

The assistants Garrett would've brought are inconsequential. You will never find that out because it doesn't make sense for him to reveal it.

The best inside perspective I ever got on the hiring was something that, of all people, Jamison Hensley reported about it:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/200...ens-head-coach

The Ravens decided by late Friday that he could tackle these problems.

Their search committee agreed that he was the choice but wanted to ask him another round of questions before offering him the job.

Before anyone from the committee spoke, Harbaugh said: "I don't have all the answers, but I think I can be your head coach. And I think with the people here, I can be a great head coach."

At that point, Bisciotti leaned forward and said: "Then, you can be our head coach."

That is exactly what John has done. Has he been perfect? No. But he's surrounded himself with enough talent on either side of the ball that he has found ways to pull this team together. The man came here for his 2nd round of interviews on a pretty crappy day weather wise. I remember this because in my head, I thought "he'll reschedule the interview today, wouldn't drive down from Philly in this crap".

As far as the people who want to shit all over him for not winning a SB yet. Yeah, I guess Buck Showalter is shitty because we didn't win a World Series this year either...