One Team’s Trash Is The Titans’ Head Coach Treasure: Why a shocking AFC firing could top Tennessee’s shortlist for Cam Ward
The AFC North could be about to send Cam Ward a gift.
Once the Tennessee Titans’ season ends on Jan. 4, they’ll be putting months worth of coaching research to use. It’ll be pedal to the metal on beginning their thorough interview process to find the head coach to lead Cam Ward and company into a new age of Tennessee football.
But a late addition to their shortlist could come from a tumultuous AFC North in the form of a Super Bowl winner and two-decade staple in the NFL: Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
John Harbaugh could top the Titans’ list of coaching candidates
Would the Ravens really move off of Harbaugh? My gut still says no. They couldn’t, could they? Well, it’s looking more and more like a possibility down the stretch of this disappointing season.
Barring a miraculous Browns win over the Steelers this week, the Ravens are about to be eliminated from the playoffs. They blew their opportunity to come from behind and claim the AFC North title once again in primetime, collapsing at home to Mike Vrabel’s Patriots. Inside of 13 minutes left to play, the Ravens led 24-13.
Derrick Henry had a classic late-game Henry drive to score the touchdown that put them up by 11, but that was the last time in the game that he’d ever touch the ball. Not only did he not see any more action, but he was watching from the sidelines.
Harbaugh tried to explain why the RB rotation led to Henry watching the collapse from afar, but clearly, this was a massive blunder. They screwed up, and he’s in charge. This was incompetence of the highest order. And these collapses — along with inexplicable management moments like this one with Henry — are exactly why Harbaugh’s 18-year run as head coach in Baltimore may be reaching a conclusion soon.
Star QB Lamar Jackson has recently spoken about wanting to see real change within the organization after this season, and now others are chiming in. TE Isaiah Likely, who is about to be a free agent in the spring, pointed to long-running themes in the building that go hand in hand with their struggles.
So before we consider whether the Titans should even want Harbaugh, let’s turn to A to Z Sports’ Ravens writer Kyle Crabbs for his two cents on his job security:
“The strife in Baltimore surrounding head coach John Harbaugh generally revolves around the frustrations of a team that feels pressed up against a glass ceiling. Twice since 2019, the Ravens have held the AFC’s top seed and don’t have so much as a Conference Championship banner, let alone a Lombardi, to show for it.
“The conversation for the Ravens turns to what the team wants to do with QB Lamar Jackson’s contract. The team has been working on an extension, and Jackson will be on the books for $74.5 million against the cap in each of the next two years without a re-worked deal. If they want to triple down on Jackson with a new contract, the conversation will likely turn, at some point, to what Harbaugh has gotten from the quarterback’s prime years and multiple MVP awards when it matters most in the postseason.
“Will they deem it bad luck? Or will they ultimately pivot and go in a different direction on the heels of a disappointing 2025 season that has teetered on the brink of complete failure for most, if not all, of the season?
“I’d be willing to bet it’s the former. But until the dust settles the rest of the way, I can’t completely dismiss the latter.”
Should the Titans pursue Harbaugh as their next head coach?
Short answer: Yes. And in a sample of nearly 700 Titans fans on Twitter (X), 77% agree he should be somebody Tennessee goes after too.
The Titans are in a completely different phase of team-building than the Ravens right now. They need a floor-raiser, a culture-setter, and a franchise-stabilizer. Harbaugh is all of those things.
There’s also something to be said about a coach’s message having an expiration date. And after nearly 20 years in one place, Harbaugh’s message in Baltimore might be strong but stale. It wouldn’t be stale somewhere like Tennessee.
He’s done a ton of winning in his career, of course. How much? Well, his career win-percentage, coincidentally (or divinely?), is .615. Shoutout my Nashville area code peeps. And for a Tennessee team that could desperately use a winning culture, Harbaugh would be a dream candidate. They just have to hope the Ravens actually pull the trigger.