Poke around the internet a bit reading info on the Ravens and you’ll find some interesting stuff these days. A few other blogs and news sources pointed me in the direction of Kevin Byrnes’ blog. Byrnes is the Senior VP of Public and Community Relations for the Ravens. His latest blog entry, posted this week, gives a wonderfully in-depth look at the process that led to John Harbaugh’s hire, but it has some wondering about the final decision…

Byrne details the entirety of the last four weeks in Ravens’ headquarters - from Billick’s firing through the hiring committee’s actions and thoughts. Harbaugh and Garrett nailed their first interviews and became the team’s first choices. When Harbaugh returned for his second interview, he made a small handful of very powerful answers and won the committee over.

Or did he?

If you look around the internet, you’ll find some very interesting opinions on the matter. The general consensus seems to be that Bisciotti, not Ozzie Newsome, was running the show from the very beginning. And that in the end it was Bisciotti, not Newsome, who made the decision - and a very sudden, spontaneous decision at that.

But read Byrnes’ post for yourself (available here) and I think you’ll find a very different story.

First, read it closely, and you’ll see that while Bisciotti clearly had a prominent role in the hiring process, he certainly did not seem to monopolize it. In the end, when Harbaugh came in for his second interview, the decision was practically already made. That’s what second interviews in the NFL are for: to hire. And to dispel any further notion of Bisciotti the dictator, you simply have to read three lines. Bisciotti asked for input on Harbaugh as a candidate during that second interview, and it was Newsome who came back and said, “Don’t think we need to. Guys, is it unanimous?”

Read that again: Ozzie and the boys were given their chance to object, and nary a word was spoken (at least as Byrnes tells it).

Second, let’s make one thing clear: Steve Bisciotti owns this football team. And for as long as he’s done so, he’s done a wonderful job of keeping his head out of his ass and the team’s daily operations. He is a ‘hands-off’ kind of guy. But the one place he needs to be hands-on is when he’s hiring a coach. Newsome was the leader of the ‘coach search,’ but not necessarily the hire. That fell to Bisciotti. And it should.

And finally, let’s not avoid it: Bisciotti has made his living picking the right guy. He knows what he likes and what he doesn’t, and he certainly knows leadership. Spontaneity is what the man thrives on. This hire is Steve’s first big move as owner of the Ravens. He deserves at least one chance before the city eats him alive.