John Harbaugh had been the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens for 18 years before the team fired him just days after the 2025 regular season ended. Under Harbaugh, the Ravens made the playoffs 12 times and won the Super Bowl in 2012. But Seattle Seahawks fans know well that many times, a longtime coach simply must go.
Seattle made the same kind of move by removing Pete Carroll from his coaching duties after the 2023 season. That has turned out to be brilliant, as the Seahawks hired Mike Macdonald to replace Carroll, and in the new head coach's second season, the team has gone 14-3 and won the NFC West.
It might also not be a coincidence that the Ravens went down relatively quickly after Seattle hired Macdonald, after he had most recently been the defensive coordinator for Baltimore. Ripple effects matter.
How John Harbaugh's termination could affect the Seattle Seahawks
And Harbaugh getting fired could have one for Seattle. The head coach is going to draw a lot of interest from teams that need a new head coach, and if Harbaugh wants a job, almost certainly some team will give him one. He's been too successful for that not to happen.
But whenever Harbaugh is hired, he will need to fill out his coaching staff. One coach that makes sense for John is hiring his nephew, Jay. Jay Harbaugh is, of course, the special teams coach for the Seahawks, and he has done an excellent job this season.
While a purely lateral move is unlikely, as Seattle would have to OK the move, should John request to interview Jay, hire Jay as his special teams coach while adding the label of associate head coach (or something of that ilk), the move would not be a lateral one, but seen as a promotion.
John Harbaugh also knows how to take the route from special teams coach to head coach because that is what he did with the Ravens, and that worked out well for the most part. Jay Harbaugh has the family lines to turn into a good head coach, too. John is his uncle, and his father, Jim, is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.
The question is whether Jay Harbaugh would want to leave the Seattle Seahawks. He also has connections to Mike Macdonald beyond their current team. Both worked at the University of Michigan together, and Macdonald gave Jay Harbaugh is chance in the NFL. Let's hope that allegiance holds.