If the Cleveland Browns are going to build a winning standard, John Harbaugh is the obvious answer to fill their head coach vacancy
In the aftermath of firing head coach Kevin Stefanski, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was adamant about the direction of the franchise.
"Our sole goal here is to be a consistent winner, not make the playoffs in ’20 and then make it again in ’23, not win eight games in two years," he asserted. "That's not what we're trying to do. That's not acceptable. Our fans deserve better."
If he's as serious as he came off during that Monday press conference, he'll do whatever it takes to land John Harbaugh.
On Tuesday night, Harbaugh's firing became the hot topic of the NFL world. He instantly shot to the top of every team with a vacancy's (and reportedly even one with an active head coach) candidate board. There's a reason for that.
Harbaugh is a proven culture builder. In his 18 seasons leading the Baltimore Ravens, the team made 12 playoff appearances, including four AFC Championship games and his lone Super Bowl title in 2012. Haslam wants to assemble a sustainable winner, well, Harbaugh knows exactly how that looks.
The 63-year-old also did it across different eras of football. At a pivotal point in Harbaugh's tenure, Lamar Jackson arrived as Joe Flacco, who he won that Super Bowl with, started to fade. Harbaugh leaned into his new phenom, recreating his offense around Jackson's strengths. The results speak for themselves, with Jackson winning two MVP awards in the years since.
People will point, however, to the lack of playoff success from Jackson, and there's a lot of context there. Some of it probably is Harbaugh's fault. Some of it is Jackson's. Some of it falls at feet of other players.
Reacting to Kevin Stefanski's Firing on Monday | Jimmy Haslam and Andrew Berry Speak on Stefanski
The Cleveland Browns have decided to move on from head coach Kevin Stefanski on Black Monday in the NFL. In the last two seasons the Browns finished with an ...
Reports indicate Harbaugh's demise in Baltimore stemmed from him losing the locker room, Jackson included. That tends to happen after nearly two decades in one place. That shouldn't be a problem here, where he'd be getting a fresh start and bringing a reputation of winning to an organization that hasn't seen much of it.
It doesn't hurt that he has Ohio ties either, something that certainly shouldn't be a requirement, but does instantly endear him to fans. Harbaugh was born in Toledo, went to Miami of Ohio and at numerous points throughout his career as mentioned he and his brother, Jim Harbaugh, who's currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, grew up Browns fans.
Their mom is from Cleveland and attended Shaw High School. Their dad, Jack, is from Mansfield. And Jim once told a story about his parents attending a Browns game against the Giants in 1961 the day after their wedding.
If it feels like the stars are aligning, well, maybe they are. Or maybe Jimmy Haslam should do anything in his power to make sure they align so that John Harbaugh becomes his next head coach. That may mean overpaying to ensure he comes. Haslam has never shied away from throwing money at a problem, so that shouldn't be an issue.
It may even mean giving him more control over personnel, or at least letting him build out his own staff in that department. If landing Harbaugh costs Andrew Berry his job, so be it. It would hardly be the first time a high-profile coach forced out an incumbent GM.
The Jacksonville Jaguars just executed that last year, firing former GM Trent Baalke in order to ensure they landed new head coach Liam Coen. The decision has worked out quite well so far.
Harbaugh isn't some run-of-the-mill retread coach. This is a coach who has been a gold standard of coaching in this league for years now. The kind of coach who can return the Browns organization from the doldrums of being a perennial laughing stock, to the glory days as one of the most respected organizations in football.
Whatever mountains require moving to land John Harbaugh, you do it.