Baltimore Beatdown
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...
