John Harbaugh Is Still Rooting for Ravens’ Lamar Jackson

The Baltimore Ravens made the toughest move the franchise has had to make in 18 years when they announced they had fired head coach John Harbaugh.

After the stunning firing of Harbaugh, multiple stories emerged about dysfunction within the franchise during the 2025 season, including star quarterback Lamar Jackson having issues not only with his offensive coordinator, Todd Monken, but also with Harbaugh. While appearing on the Ryan Ripken Show, Harbaugh discussed Jackson and had nothing but good things to say about the Ravens' franchise quarterback.

"I'm proud of Lamar, proud of what we accomplished together, proud of the quarterback he's become and what he's done... We were so close, we were right there and couldn't quite get it done... now let's get the next evolution of Lamar and see what can be done."

John Harbaugh paid high compliments to Lamar Jackson in interview

Harbaugh and Jackson have done a lot of winning since Jackson jumped into the lineup for the first time in his rookie season back in 2018. Jackson has gone 76-31 in the regular season as the starter, winning 71% of his career starts.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson | James Lang-Imagn Images

Since 2018, the Ravens have made the playoffs six times and missed the postseason only twice, with both years ending in 8-9 records. Jackson is 3-5 as the starter when the Ravens were in the playoffs.

At the time Jackson was drafted by the Ravens in 2018, many were worried that if he was going to be the eventual replacement for Joe Flacco, Harbaugh would have a tough time adjusting to his style of play since Flacco was more of a pocket passer and Jackson was more mobile. Harbaugh proved he can adapt to any quarterback style, as the Ravens were successful with Jackson as the starter.

In fact, Jackson elevated the offense to heights that never been reached under Harbaugh as the head coach. This is a Ravens team that was consistently in the top five in rushing, and in later years, Jackson elevated his passing to make Baltimore one of the best passing attacks in the NFL.

Harbaugh was the perfect coach for Jackson to grow in the NFL and evolve into the two-time MVP he has become. With new head coach Jesse Minter in the picture now, his job will be to take Jackson to the next level, which is winning a Super Bowl for the Ravens.

Jackson and the Ravens fan base will always appreciate what Harbaugh did for the franchise, but a new voice is needed to lead them into the new era of Baltimore football.