On Tuesday evening, the Baltimore Ravens made the decision to part ways with longtime head coach John Harbaugh. Now, the franchise will be looking for a new head coach for the first time in 18 years. Which available coaches would be good candidates for the Ravens? The Baltimore Beatdown staff shares their thoughts below.
The Ravens’ top brass should take a plane to Los Angeles, go to SoFi Stadium, and refuse to leave without their new head coach. And no, I’m not talking about Greg Roman. In fact,
he’s the only Rams and Chargers coordinator I would not be interested in. His counterpart, Chargers DC Jesse Minter, draws undeniable comparisons to Mike Macdonald. That appeal should be obvious enough.
Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula has also spent the last nine seasons under Sean McVay with a solid debut in 2024 and a top-five defense this year. He is also is the grandson of legendary coach Don Shula. Best known for the Dolphins’ perfect 1972 season, the elder Shula also coached the Baltimore Colts for seven years. So between his defensive credentials, access to McVay’s coaching tree, and a last name that the Ravens will value, he could be a dark horse candidate.
Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is more of a question mark and might be a better candidate to come along as Shula’s OC. His lone play-calling stint in New York went poorly, though he was dealing with Zach Wilson under center and a weak offensive roster in general. With time under both Kyle Shanahan and McVay, he might be ready to step into a bigger role. He would need to impress in interviews to show that he can be a similar culture-setting to his mentors. – Nikhil Mehta
Many of the best available head coaching options this year are defense-first coaches, a group that includes the likes of Brian Flores, Robert Saleh, and Jesse Minter, among others. Flores and Saleh are two former head coaches who underwhelmed in their previous stints. However, some of that could be attributed to their environments — which included leadership dysfunction and poor personnel decision-making. A fresh start in Baltimore with better management and more talented rosters could see either of them do much better as a head coach this time around.
Flores would personally be my No. 1 choice as he’s an elite defensive mind, player’s coach, and culture-setter, but Minter is the most intriguing. He’s the youngest and has perhaps the most untapped coaching potential, and a history with the Ravens and in the Harbaugh-Michigan realm. He’s less of a true outside hire because of this, though, and therefore would be not as much of a fresh start. I would love to see the Ravens pursue one of these options and bring in a fresh, young offensive coach to pair them with. Or, alternatively, another good choice on the offensive side of available coaches is Klint Kubiak. If the Ravens hired Kubiak and paired him with a seasoned defensive coach such as Jim Schwartz, that could be a home run scenario. — Frank Platko
Four names pop into my mind consistently now that the Ravens are looking for their next head coach. The first and most obvious candidate is Jesse Minter, the current defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers. Minter will piss some fans off because it may feel like the same old story, Minter hailing heavily from the Harbaugh tree. But so was Mike Macdonald, and the talk surrounding Minter is similar to Macdonald’s hype. It would honestly be a sense of comfort, knowing the sense of stability that comes from the Harbaugh tree. My top candidate though is Brian Flores. Flores will be one of the hottest names this offseason so obtaining him would be hard fought. After a terrible stint in Miami as the head coach, Flores reestablished himself as one of the brightest defensive minds in the NFL during stints in Pittsburgh and his current job as the defensive coordinator in Minnesota. Flores has the passion and attention to detail that Harbaugh seems to have lost in his recent years.
The other names for me that stand out are defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who’s always fielded a tough unit, no matter the talent level, and Klint Kubiak, an offensive mastermind who’s made Sam Darnold work in Seattle with Mike Macdonald while having a less than talented offensive line. Those four names are at the top of my list for the Baltimore Ravens. I would also place Kevin Stefanski as a dark horse candidate for the Ravens. I must also say that I am out on Kliff Kingsbury, who was quickly mentioned by insiders as an option once Harbaugh was fired. I do not think it would be as bad as his stint in Arizona but I don’t think it’s the best the Ravens could do. — Zach Canter
To me, there are three candidates the Ravens should pursue. The first is Brian Flores. Flores is widely respected defensive genius and consistently has produced top defenses despite lackluster talent. When it comes down to it, the Ravens need to reestablish their culture. The idea of having someone like Flores at the helm would, in my opinion, make opponents fear the Ravens again and bring back their home field advantage. The second is Jesse Minter. Minter has ties to the Harbaugh coaching tree and was formerly a defensive backs coach in Baltimore. Minter succeeded Mike MacDonald at Michigan years ago and the talk around the Chargers about him mirrors what Ravens fans thought of MacDonald. The third and final primary candidate should be Klint Kubiak. It’s no secret that getting an offensive guru at head coach is a quick way to elevate your team i.e., Ben Johnson, Sean McVay, and Kyle Shanahan amongst others. Considering the Ravens philosophy of running the ball, playing a physical and aggressive style of defense, and taking the will of their opponent, Flores would be my pick. — Stephen Bopst
