The Las Vegas Raiders just had a surprising new name added to the list of potential new coaches, but newly fired John Harbaugh from the Baltimore Ravens will have plenty of suitors. Jayna Bardahl of The Athletic recently rated seven potential landing spots for Harbaugh, and unfortunately the Raiders didn’t do well, coming out last in her her ratings.
It’s hard to argue with the logic in this rating. The six other teams were the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals.
Harbaugh is taking his time with the decision, and joining a winning program is reported to be one of his priorities. That automatically rules out the Raiders, who just fired a coach, Pete Carroll, who was hired to institute a winning program.
It’s also difficult to know if Harbaugh’s coaching approach would be compatible with the drafting and trading philosophy of Raiders' GM John Spytek. According to reports, Spytek will be working closely with minority owner Tom Brady to evaluate and select the Raiders next coach.
One thing Harbaugh is used to is an orderly system with executives who have been in place for a long time. The Raiders obviously don’t have that, either, so that’s another black mark against the Silver and Black program.
That winning program part also relates to the quarterback situation, and that’s another sticking point. The Raiders will almost certainly be moving on from quarterback Geno Smith and taking an $18 million cap hit in the process, and most of the current rumors have the Raiders drafting a quarterback.
Would Harbaugh be up for that? It certainly feels unlikely. It might be refreshing for him not to have to deal with the ongoing drama that comes with quarterback Lamar Jackson, but it’s been a long time since Harbaugh has had to work with an inexperienced quarterback over teh course of a full season.
Then there’s the ownership factor. Steve Bisciotti of the Ravens is one of the most respected owners in the league, and Raiders owner Mark Davis is…the opposite of that, basically.
The one intriguing variable in this possibility is Brady’s role. Harbaugh competed against Brady for most of Brady’s two-decade career, and the respect factor there is undoubtedly off the charts for both parties. But Brady hasn’t shown any inclination to actually be in the building for the Raiders on a daily basis, and that has to be something Harbaugh is looking for in his next job.