OTL: Ravens Complete First Round of Interviews

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the New England Patriots are heading to the AFC Championship game to play the Denver Broncos. How about this one: Josh Allen lost a divisional playoff game in overtime. Or: Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford are back in the NFC Championship. From a playoff standpoint, it really was a new twist on things we’ve seen before. For the Ravens and we fans, it was more anxiety-free football and head coaching interviews.

John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski made the first big splashes in the NFL head coaching hiring cycle. Harbaugh, as was expected for most of last week, went to the New York Giants. Here is what Giants.com’s  John Schmeelk writes about the big hire for the Giants:

Harbaugh knows what a winning building feels like and how to put that in place. He understands what is necessary to prepare his players to win a game every week, and what he needs to demand from his players in order achieve success. He will immediately have the respect of every player in the building with the understanding that they need to do things his way.

The Giants have not had a coach enter the building with his level of success … ever. He is the first coach in Giants history to be hired with a Super Bowl victory on his resume. Dan Reeves had coached in three Super Bowls with the Broncos but never won one. This hire could have the same impact that bringing in Tom Coughlin had in 2004, when he changed the entire tenor of the building. The result was two Super Bowl titles.

The number one benefit for Harbaugh will be that his voice isn’t stale in New York. The Giants as an organization are ecstatic about the move. They could not have been much more transparent that Harbaugh was who they wanted. What I buy from this take is that Harbaugh can be successful. He knows the NFL and he’s won a lot of games, there is no argument here.

What I would caution is that the Giants aren’t getting the freshest version of Harbaugh. Without Lamar Jackson, Harbaugh would have a lot fewer wins and the Ravens likely would have moved on years ago. There is a major difference between 2008 Harbaugh who was young and scrappy and 2026 Harbaugh who is moving on to a brand new opportunity after 18 years at his last stop. The moments in between the initial runs with Joe Flacco, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed, and the Lamar era were not entertaining. There’s John with Hall of Famers at all three levels of his defense, then there’s John with a two-time MVP QB. In between wasn’t pretty. It is a good hire but I would temper expectations just a little.

The next domino to fall was the Falcons hiring Stefanski. This is a move that has a greater impact on the Ravens, since he was a coach they had interviewed for their opening. It did not take too long for me to find the biggest overreaction to Stefanski’s hiring:

The Atlanta Falcons hiring Kevin Stefanski is a big mistake. He’s overrated. Talks a good game with owners. Doesn’t connect with players. Arrogant, condescending. Now all that Falcons’ talent will be wasted.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 18, 2026

Skip Bayless makes a living on takes like these, but this is wrong. Stefanski doesn’t connect with his players? Why did a team with a losing record just joyously come together to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17 of the season? I’d argue the only thing I could count on from the Browns is that they would play hard for Stefanski. There are a lot of problems in Cleveland, as any AFC North eye will tell you. You can still make the argument that Stefanski wasn’t one of them. The fact that he was with a division rival and got serious consideration from the Ravens at all tells you a lot about him as a candidate. Stefanski got a bad draw in Cleveland. There are some serious questions he surely had to answer about that in the interview process. One thing stays a constant before and after his hiring by Atlanta: the league respects Stefanski.

Me watching the Seahawks go nuts in the postseason when that could’ve easily been Baltimore pic.twitter.com/Eexl7T439J

— Samuel Njoku (@RavensTalkPod) January 18, 2026

Boy, does it hurt watching Mike Macdonald do so well in Seattle. It was a popular idea a few years ago to have Harbaugh step aside and give Macdonald the keys in Baltimore. Now the Seahawks have the number one defense in the NFL, they’re hosting the NFC Championship game, and the Ravens interviewed Macdonald’s offensive coordinator (Klint Kubiak) for their head coaching vacancy. We’re fine. Keep saying it until it sounds true Baltimore.

We have completed an interview with Joe Brady for our head coach position. pic.twitter.com/3BUrHMvRcy

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 18, 2026

The Ravens have also conducted an interview with Joe Brady, the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator. Brady is a coach I’d be a little skeptical on. When you watch the Bills, the commentators love to go on and on about how much of the load Josh Allen puts on his shoulders. My concern is that Jackson would be expected to do the Superman thing all the time with Brady. A few years ago, I would have been more excited about this potential hire. He had a lot of momentum from the college ranks when he was the passing game coordinator for Joe Burrow’s LSU Tigers in 2019. He’s been an offensive coordinator for both the Bills and the Panthers, and while the Bills were productive, Brady isn’t what I’m looking for.

We have completed an interview with Robert Saleh for our head coach position. pic.twitter.com/YtI9ZcqC0n

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 18, 2026

Last week I got you on the Robert Saleh hype train a bit. This is one of my favorite options for the Ravens. Saleh is loved by his players and has a reputation of bringing a lot of energy into his coaching. We know he’s a great defensive coordinator. If the Ravens are serious about being the best job in the coaching carousel, they should not be afraid to let Saleh prove something in Baltimore.

We have completed an interview with Nathan Scheelhaase for our head coach position. pic.twitter.com/cku7NVly7O

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 17, 2026

Can Scheelhaase’s completely sell the Ravens on his vision during his interview? That’s the only way I see them going down this road. Nate currently works under Sean McVay as a passing game coordinator. He is only 35 years old and has never been an offensive coordinator at the NFL level. To me, it is incredible that he is in this position to interview for head coaching vacancies. I think it all comes down to how highly the league views McVay and the entire LA organization (rightfully). This would be a hire that comes with the most questions. I am filing this under interesting. I want to know more. I’m at least intrigued.

Based on results of yesterday’s polls, let’s narrow it down…

Your preference?

— Russell St. Report (@RussellStReport) January 15, 2026

How about you?

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