Ravens sack Harbaugh after 18 years as head coach

The Baltimore Ravens have ended John Harbaugh's 18-year spell as head coach after the team's failure to reach the NFL play-offs.

The 63-year-old led the Ravens to victory in the 2013 Super Bowl and was the second longest-serving head coach in the NFL.

Harbaugh is the fifth head coach to be sacked since the end of the NFL's regular season on Sunday, when Baltimore lost to divisional rivals Pittsburgh in an AFC North title decider.

Tyler Loop missed a last-gasp field goal to allow the Steelers to win 26-24 and clinch the final play-off spot, at the Ravens' expense.

Baltimore have reached the play-offs in six of the previous seven seasons, and in 12 of Harbaugh's 18 in charge.

But, despite having two-time Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson at quarterback since 2018, Baltimore have reached the AFC Championship game just once since the team's second Super Bowl win 13 years ago.

"Well, I was hoping for a different kind of message on my last day here, someday, but that day has come today," Harbaugh said in a statement.

"It comes with disappointment certainly, but more with gratitude and appreciation."

After an inconsistent season, Baltimore missed out on the play-offs having finished with a losing record (8-9).

They lost five of their opening six games and, despite winning their next five to get back in post-season contention, lost four of their remaining six.

Harbaugh is comfortably the longest-serving head coach in the Ravens' history as the franchise was founded in 1996.

He led the team to play-off wins in each of his first five seasons before going all the way in 2013, when the Ravens won the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers, who were coached by John's younger brother Jim - the current Los Angeles Chargers coach.

"This was an incredibly difficult decision, given the tremendous 18 years we have spent together and the profound respect I have for John as a coach and, most importantly, as a great man of integrity," Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said in a statement.