OPTIMISM IN THE AIR
Despite mounting pressure, Harbaugh stays the course Fans, players excited about fresh start after dismal ’15
John Harbaugh is at the time of his career in Baltimore when a lot of head coaches get fired because they can’t reinvent themselves.
Now in his ninth season, Harbaugh has failed to lead the Ravens to the playoffs in two of the past three years, including a 5-11 finish in 2015. Another losing season might not be cause for concern in a city such as Cleveland, but owner Steve Bisciotti will probably take a long, hard look at Harbaugh’s status if the Ravens finish under .500 again. Harbaugh, though, isn’t worried about the pressure or undergoing a coaching makeover. Today: Practice, 9 a.m. M&T Bank Stadium practices: Monday (7 p.m.) and Aug. 6 (6 p.m.) Preseason opener: Aug. 11 vs. Panthers, 7:30 p.m. INSIDE Injuries thin ranks at running back; more notes and highlights
The rhythmic clapping started early Thursday. Most of the Ravens players and coaches were already on the field and the surrounding bleachers were starting to fill.
When the horn sounded at 9 a.m., the players hustled to stations with their position groups. The applause got even louder. Training camp at the Under Armour Performance Center had officially begun.
“Gosh, I can’t tell or express the excitement you have coming back,” said two-time first-team All-Pro safety Eric Weddle, one of the team’s major offseason additions. “All of your hopes and dreams start right now — to have a chance at the ultimate goal: winning a Super Bowl.”
“They can make that argument every year in this league,” Harbaugh said about added pressure in 2016. “The NFL stands for ‘not for long’ for a reason, so you just have to take it one year at a time and try to do a good job. I’ve always said that principles don’t change, just the methods.”
After watching Harbaugh during the offseason and seeing him on the field Thursday, he appears to be the same. He’ll push the tempo and be more demanding than a year ago, but he isn’t going to produce any rap songs like his brother Jim, the coach at Michigan.
Don’t laugh — a lot of coaches change after long stays in one place.
Bill Cowher actually became nicer during his 15-year tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Bisciotti forced former Ravens coach Brian Billick to become less arrogant and take tougher stances against players after the 2005 season.
That face-lift lasted only one season because Billick’s message became stale and the players lost respect for him during the 2007 season — which led to his dismissal.
It’s not the same situation with Harbaugh. Last season might have been his best performance, despite the poor record. The Ravens had 12 starters miss 71 games with injuries, but the teamwascompetitive in most games, even late in the season.
If the Ravens had tuned out Harbaugh, this team would have fallen apart.
“I’ve seen some changes, where he depends more on players like” quarterback Joe Flacco, veteran long snapper Morgan Cox said. “He’ll come over and ask Joe for feedback on what we need and how can we get better. I’ve never seen anybody with a drive to win like Coach. He is always looking for the next thing that is going to make us better.”
So he’ll continue to be corny with his slogans and T-shirts. But he is also creative, having brought in a guest speaker like the late Muhammad Ali, or staging a fishing trip for the players. Maybe it’s having a team movie night or having an ice cream truck roll up after a hot summer practice.
Harbaugh, though, remains tough at his core. He demands a strong work ethic on the field and in the film and weight rooms.
“Out of necessity you have to grow, evolve and get better,” said Harbaugh, who has an 87-56 record with the Ravens. “If you don’t, regardless if you are a coach, team or a writer, you will get overtaken. What works one year doesn’t always work the next. What motivates one year doesn’t motivate the following year. Guys hear what you have to say; you just have to find new ways to say it. Ravens coach John Harbaugh, left, follows Buck Allen off the field after the first day of training camp. The team has missed the playoffs in two of the past three years.
“With Jim in that rap song, he showed some skills, had some nice cadence,” Harbaugh said, laughing. “The thing about Jim is he is always having fun, and he doesn’t care about being made fun of. We’ve had this conversation a lot in the last year, where if you dream big enough, are creative enough and outside of the box, people will make fun of you. If they aren’t making fun of you, then your dream might not be big enough.”
The biggest difference between Harbaugh now and the one who became a head coach nine years ago is the absence of several alpha males on the roster. His early teams had playmakers such as Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Chris McAlister and a younger Terrell Suggs.
Harbaugh’s attitude helped run off some of them, and for good reason because Lewis and Reed were past their primes and McAlister played within his own universe.
It is difficult to say whether the Ravens lack these types of players because general manager Ozzie Newsome hasn’t been as successful as in the past or because Harbaugh prefers players who are willing to fit into his system instead of rebelling against it.
Regardless, his style won’t change, even though he’ll be under heavy scrutiny in 2016. He won’t turn into someone else.
Or be featured in a rap video.