Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti made a choice last week that he probably once believed he might never have to consider when he fired longtime coach John Harbaugh.
Bisciotti is still being judged for his decision – one he had considered for weeks – but has one regret: If he had it to do over again, he wouldn’t have told Harbaugh over the phone.
“It was the craziest shot in the world,” Bisciotti said Tuesday, apologizing for relieving Harbaugh of his duties over the phone, via ESPN. “I was the one who choked and he was the one who comforted me.”
Harbaugh’s firing appeared to come as a result of Baltimore ending the 2025 season with a 26-24 loss as freshman Tyler Loop missed what would have been the game-winning — and AFC North title-clinching — field goal in the final game of the thrilling contest in Pittsburgh. However, as Bisciotti explained, the outcome of the game only affected the timing of Harbaugh’s dismissal. Had Loop made the field goal and sent Baltimore to the playoffs, it would have only kept Harbaugh employed “for a week,” Bisciotti said.
“I got to the point where I didn’t believe I would regret making this decision,” Bisciotti said. “And that’s what instinct is when you finally get to the point where you’re pretty sure you’re not going to regret the decision a day or a week later, then it’s time to make the decision.”
Bisciotti made the decision with a certain feeling informed by watching his team get down repeatedly in the fourth quarter, producing the most collapses as it led the NFL in 10-plus points (14) over the last six seasons. There’s also Baltimore’s consistent regular season success and equally predictable postseason disappointment; despite winning 126 regular season games from 2013-2025 (all under Harbaugh), the Ravens have not won multiple games in a single postseason contest. Harbaugh began his longest run in Baltimore with a 9-4 record in his first five seasons, then went 4-7 in the playoffs over the remaining 13 seasons.
With the Ravens declining year after year — they went from an AFC Championship game appearance in 2023 to a loss in the League Cup in 2024 and missed the playoffs in 2025 — Bisciotti felt he had no choice but to find a new leader.
“I just hope you respect me enough to know that my 100% instinct told me this was the right time,” Bisciotti said. “And I could be right, I could be wrong, but I did it because I’m in charge of doing it.”