Stephen A. Smith questions John Harbaugh being viewed as a ‘savior’

As NFL teams feverishly recruit John Harbaugh for their vacant and even non-vacant head coaching positions, Stephen A. Smith is wondering why.

When the Baltimore Ravens fired Harbaugh after 18 seasons last week, the longtime NFL coach reportedly received calls from seven different teams. At the time, there were only six teams with head coaching vacancies, but it’s reasonable to assume other organizations were similarly wondering whether they should make a run at Harbaugh.

One of those teams with a head coach in place that seemed like a potential fit for Harbaugh was the Green Bay Packers, who were reportedly waffling on Matt LaFleur heading into their playoff game with the Chicago Bears. Despite blowing a lead and getting knocked out of the playoffs by Chicago, Adam Schefter reported Monday morning that Green Bay intends to work out a new contract with LaFleur. But the narrative that Harbaugh would have been viewed as an upgrade over LaFleur still left Stephen A. Smith confused during his Monday afternoon show on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio.

“John Harbaugh can coach, I respect him,” Smith boldly admitted. “If he gets another head coaching job, I’m certainly not going to sneeze at that. John Harbaugh can coach, I get it. But he hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 2012. He hasn’t been to a Super Bowl since that time, and he’s had Lamar Jackson for the last seven and a half years and only went to one AFC Championship game! How the hell is he leapfrogging to the front of everybody’s list like he’s some savior?!”

Smith continued by asking what happened to organizations trying to find the next great head coach by elevating a coordinator, as if that were a thing of the past.

“What happened to people thinking about a Liam Coen, a (Mike) McDonald or people like that, even a (Sean) McVay…what happened to some new fresh blood?” Smith asked.

NFL teams still look for new “fresh blood,” as Smith even proved by mentioning Liam Coen, who just finished his rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. And teams will continue searching for “fresh blood,” except on the rare occasion when a proven winner and Super Bowl champion like John Harbaugh becomes available.

But Smith does have a point. For a head coach who hasn’t been to a Super Bowl in more than a dozen years, Harbaugh does get treated like he did no wrong in Baltimore. Harbaugh has a 180-113 career record and one Super Bowl ring from 2012. Consider how differently Mike McCarthy is viewed as a head coach with a 174-112-2 record and a Super Bowl ring from 2010.

That’s a very simplified view of their coaching credentials, but despite similar resumes, no NFL team is chasing McCarthy the way they’re chasing Harbaugh. And no fanbase is clamoring for McCarthy the way they’re clamoring for Harbaugh. It’s been a long time since Harbaugh has been to or won a Super Bowl. And even though he couldn’t get Lamar Jackson to a Super Bowl, teams with much less talent are all in on Harbaugh as their potential savior.