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?

Read the rest of this entry »

According the their website, the Baltimore Ravens have hired John Harbaugh as their new head coach.

It will be interesting to get to hear Harbaugh speak. He was a relative unknown, at least to Baltimore fans, when the job search began. He served for nearly a decade with the Eagles as both a Special Teams Coordinator and a defensive backs coach. The Ravens’ webpage say he will bring a “youthful exuberance” to the club. Harbaugh is 45.

As a fan, two questions quickly come to mind: first, what becomes of Rex Ryan? Hopefully he lands a head coaching position elsewhere in the league, but if not, I’d hope to see Harbaugh offer him a spot with the Ravens. Second, how is a defensive and special teams coach going to reshape this offense and balance a roster of vets and young players? It’s fair to say he must have been mighty impressive in that interview room.

Prediction: we’re going to see a much larger roster overhaul than originally expected.

Jerry Jones has managed to retain offensive coordinator Jason Garrett for at least another five years, but how will such a contract extension and steep pay raise be felt not only throughout the rest of the league, but his own team? Current Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips was hired not even a year ago, signed to a three-year deal worth a reported $12 million. In short, Garrett is signed on to make $10 million in the next two years alone. Either Phillips is out after next season (or perhaps sooner if the Cowboys don’t win the Super Bowl), or Phillips is the most understanding coach in America.

Reports from The Baltimore Sun, ESPN and other national sources have been coming in since early this afternoon saying that the Ravens have asked Jason Garrett to fill their vacant head coaching position. Garrett, presently the Dallas Cowboys’ Offensive Coordinator, has completed several rounds of interviews with the Ravens since they fired Brian Billick the day after completing their 2007 schedule. The Ravens have yet to confirm these reports, which say Garrett is considering turning down the offer in favor of staying in Dallas.

Meanwhile, as the Ravens await a response from Garrett, their Defensive Coordinator and fan favorite Rex Ryan is rumored to be the front-runner for the head coaching position with the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons former coach, Bobby Petrino, left the team mid-season to return to the college ranks.