After helping the Baltimore Ravens finish the 2019 regular season with the NFL’s best record, John Harbaugh was honored as the Associated Press Coach of the Year.
The Ravens met a disappointing end in the playoffs, losing to the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round. That shouldn’t overshadow a 14-win campaign that saw Baltimore’s offense make history.
The team’s 3,296 rushing yards were a single-season record, eclipsing the 3,165 yards posted by the 1978 New England Patriots. Harbaugh helped engineer that dynamic rushing attack by playing to Lamar Jackson’s strengths in a way few thought possible in the NFL.
Jackson threw for 3,127 yards and an NFL-high 36 touchdowns, but his work on the ground helped set the Ravens apart. He ran for 1,206 yards (a record for a quarterback) and seven yards.
The option—while used sparingly—isn’t a revolutionary concept in the NFL; the degree to which Baltimore utilized the option, however, set the team apart. Jackson carved up defenses the same way he did in 2016 when he won a Heisman Trophy at Louisville.
The impact of Jackson’s historic performance wasn’t lost on Harbaugh.
Harbaugh’s work wasn’t limited to empowering his QB. The Ravens finished fourth in defensive efficiency, per Football Outsiders, and allowed the third-fewest yards (300.5) in the NFL.
Running back Mark Ingram II also elaborated on how the head coach helped forge an atmosphere where the players felt comfortable, per the Baltimore Sun’s Childs Walker:
“He’s always asking the players how we think, how we feel about situations, addressing us, asking us things. We give him feedback, and it’s just transparency. He takes care of us. … When a coach allows you to be yourself and shows that he believes in you and cares about you, you want to fight for him that much harder.”
Quite a bit has changed in a little over a
year.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported in November 2018 that “pressure is mounting inside the organization on Harbaugh” as the Ravens were on the playoff bubble. The team confirmed a month later that he’d be back.
Harbaugh undoubtedly earned himself a little more job security heading into the 2020 season.
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