There are few worse feelings in sport than what the Baltimore Ravens are going through right now. Mike Macdonald, who just led the Seattle Seahawks to their second Super Bowl title, was on the Ravens’ staff in various roles for nearly a decade from 2014 to 2020, and again from 2022 to 2023 as their defensive coordinator. It felt like he could be the successor to John Harbaugh, but after two seasons where he led Baltimore to the No. 1 and No. 3 scoring defense, the Seahawks leaped at the opportunity to hire him as their heir to Pete Carroll.

The Ravens finally made the decision to let Harbaugh go, and it’s a bit poetic that it came shortly before Macdonald won a Super Bowl in his second year as Seattle’s head coach. They would’ve loved to make him the next head coach of the Ravens, but they didn’t even have the option.

The truth is, the Ravens should’ve fired Harbaugh a few years ago, but a Super Bowl victory, even if it came over a decade ago, will always give a coach the benefit of the doubt. They should’ve never let Macdonald walk out the door, and now they’re reaping what they sowed.

Mike Macdonald’s Success With Baltimore

Mike Macdonald rapidly rose through the ranks in Baltimore. In 2014, he started as a coaching intern before taking over as a defensive assistant from 2015 to 2016. He was promoted to defensive backs coach in 2017 before moving to linebackers coach in 2018 and 2019. Then, John’s brother, Jim Harbaugh, came calling and offered him a job as Michigan’s defensive coordinator. But after one year there, he returned to the Ravens as their defensive coordinator, where he’d call plays at the NFL level for the first time.

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In his first season as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, Macdonald led them to the No. 3 scoring defense, giving up 18.8 PPG. Despite his success on defense, Baltimore went 10-7 and hardly squeaked into the postseason, and were bounced in the Wild Card Round.

In 2023, the Ravens were even better defensively, giving up just 16.2 PPG, which was the best in the league. The Ravens were able to capitalize on his success, making it to the AFC Championship game before falling to Kansas City despite giving up just 17 points.

After that season, Macdonald was hired by the Seahawks, where he’s taken them from the No. 24 scoring defense in 2023 to the No. 1 scoring defense in 2025. Meanwhile, the Ravens went from No. 1 to No. 8 in 2024 before dropping all the way to No. 18 in 2025.

Ravens Were Two Years Too Late Firing Harbaugh

The truth is, John Harbaugh probably should’ve been fired years ago. After winning the Super Bowl in 2012, he missed the playoffs in four of the next five seasons. Then, after making it again in 2018, Lamar Jackson got the start in 2019 and they won 14 games, but were embarrassed in the first round by Tennessee, who beat them 28-12.

The next year, the Ravens were slightly worse, going 11-5, but that was largely due to Jackson missing time. He was healthy for the playoffs, though, and what did they do? Lose in the Divisional Round again after putting up just three points. To make matters worse, Baltimore went 8-9 and missed the playoffs the following season, and Harbaugh still held onto his job.

That’s all fine, especially because they went 13-4 in 2022, Macdonald’s first year as defensive coordinator, but they were knocked out in the Wild Card Round after Cincinnati beat them. This would’ve been the logical time to start over. You had your ideal replacement in the building, and Harbaugh had proven time and time again he couldn’t get it done in the playoffs. This is eerily similar to the Buffalo Bills’ situation this year, except they actually made the move and promoted their guy from within.

But instead of making a change, the Ravens held onto Harbaugh, and repaid them with an AFC Championship appearance. But the story ended the same way: with another playoff loss despite Macdonald’s defense holding Patrick Mahomes to 17 points.

I believe Harbaugh is a really good coach, but it was time for a change for years before they actually made one. I understand not doing it in the early days, but they had Macdonald right in their building. They built him into what he is, and they don’t even get to reap the benefits, because they let him walk in favor of their head coach, who hadn’t won anything significant in over a decade.

Baltimore Hopes Jesse Minter is the Next Macdonald

After the Ravens fired John Harbaugh, they set out on a journey to find their new head coach, and it didn’t take them long to hire Jesse Minter from the Chargers, who, funny enough, was John Harbaugh’s brother’s defensive coordinator.

Want to know what else is funny about this? This is basically the same hire Seattle made with Macdonald. They got the top up-and-coming defensive coordinator on the market to come in and establish a defense-first mentality.

Minter’s had a ton of success with the Chargers in the two years he’s been their defensive coordinator. In 2024, his first year, LA finished second in scoring defense, giving up 18.5 PPG, and 11th in total defense, surrendering 330.2 yards per game. In 2025, his PPG dropped from second to eighth, but his defense finished sixth in yards per game.

The Ravens will hope that Minter can have the same impact on their team as Macdonald had on Seattle. If he can lead Baltimore back to the Super Bowl, it will all be forgotten. But if he can’t, Macdonald will always be the one who got away.