Harbaugh Is Ravens' New Coach

Ex-Eagles Assistant Was Backup Choice

A day after being rebuffed by their top coaching candidate, the Baltimore Ravens went to their backup plan yesterday and hired John Harbaugh as their head coach.

Harbaugh, the secondary coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, succeeds Brian Billick, who was fired nearly three weeks ago after a 5-11 season. Harbaugh had a second interview for the job yesterday at the Ravens' training facility in Owings Mills, Md., after Jason Garrett withdrew from consideration Thursday and received a hefty raise to remain the offensive coordinator in Dallas.

The Ravens plan to introduce Harbaugh at a news conference today. He spent nine seasons as the Eagles' special teams coordinator before being put in charge of the club's defensive backs this season, and he recently was a finalist for the head coaching job at UCLA that went to Ravens offensive coordinator Rick Neuheisel.

"I couldn't be happier for John and his entire family," Eagles Coach Andy Reid said in a written statement. "He has worked very hard to become a head coach in the National Football League. I know how much this means to him. He is very deserving of this opportunity, and we will miss him in Philadelphia. John is a good friend, a great coach, and he has played a vital role in the success we have shared here. I wish him all the best in Baltimore."

In Baltimore, Harbaugh inherits a team that was one of the league's best in the 2006 season but slipped badly this season, leading Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to dismiss Billick, the club's Super Bowl-winning coach. The Ravens settled on Garrett as their top candidate and brought him to town for a second interview Tuesday, two days after the Cowboys' season ended in a playoff loss to the New York Giants.

The Ravens attempted to complete a deal with Garrett but couldn't, and he left for a second interview with the Atlanta Falcons. He went back to the Dallas area late Wednesday and met with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who persuaded Garrett to stay and signed him to a contract, worth more than $3 million per season, that made Garrett the NFL's highest-paid assistant.

That left the Ravens' brain trust led by Bisciotti, team president Dick Cass and General Manager Ozzie Newsome reassessing its search. There was speculation the Ravens might pursue veteran NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, who coached Newsome in Cleveland and led San Diego to a 14-2 record last season before being fired following a second-round playoff defeat. He was out of the league this season.

Instead, the Ravens brought Harbaugh to town yesterday morning. He spent about eight hours at the club's headquarters before striking a deal and leaving early in the evening.

Harbaugh and Garrett were the only candidates the Ravens interviewed twice. In their first round of interviews, they also met with Cowboys offensive line coach Tony Sparano, Indianapolis Colts quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, New York Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer (Marty Schottenheimer's son) and their own defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan.

Sparano was hired as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday, and Caldwell withdrew from consideration at midweek. He's been named the prospective successor to Colts Coach Tony Dungy if Dungy retires.

Harbaugh, 45, is the older brother of former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, now the coach at Stanford, and the brother-in-law of Marquette basketball coach Tom Crean. His father, Jack, is a former college coach at Western Kentucky.

John Harbaugh began his coaching career at Western Michigan in 1984 and was a college assistant at Pittsburgh, Morehead State, Cincinnati and Indiana before making the jump to the NFL in 1998 to join Ray Rhodes's staff in Philadelphia.