On January 18, 2008, the Baltimore Ravens introduced John Harbaugh as their new head coach. Harbaugh had previously been held lower level coaching positions with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1996 to 2007.

Prior to his coaching career, Harbaugh played college football at Miami University in Ohio. He took his first coaching position in 1984 at Western Michigan University. With his father as the head coach, Harbaugh led the running backs and outside line backers for three seasons. He then moved to the University of Pittsburgh as the tight ends coach for one season in 1987. After another year of coaching at Morehead State University, Harbaugh spent the next eight seasons as the special teams coordinator at the University of Cincinnati. He joined the Philadelphia Eagles in 1996, serving as the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach.