by: Nick Geddes 6 hours ago NickGeddesNews
The Week 18 Sunday Night Football matchup featuring the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers ended up being the final meeting between John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin with their respective teams. The Ravens fired Harbaugh Tuesday — two days after the defeat — which resulted in the Steelers winning the AFC North.
Harbaugh and Tomlin faced each other 44 times throughout their time together in the division. If there’s to be a 45th meeting in the future, it will be with Harbaugh wearing the logo of a different NFL team. Regardless of where Harbaugh goes from here, Tomlin knows their “stories will forever be interwoven,” he told Rich Eisen on Wednesday.
Mike Tomlin reacts to John Harbaugh’s firing:
“I just have so much respect for Harbs. Our stories will forever be interwoven. … In terms of him being let go, unfortunately, I just think it’s a component of today’s sport culture. … I just think it’s a larger example of… pic.twitter.com/9fFTVn8zLR
— Bobby Trosset (@bobbybaltim0re) January 7, 2026
“First, I just have so much respect for Harbs,” Tomlin said. “Our stories will forever be interwoven. This rivalry that we’ve been fortunate and honored enough to be a part of. I just got so much respect for him and how he’s gone about his business, and we’ve certainly had some legendary battles over the years.”
Harbaugh guided the Ravens to a 180-113 record across 18 seasons, earning 12 trips to the postseason. He led Baltimore to a Super Bowl XLVII victory over the San Francisco 49ers. While the Ravens never got to the Super Bowl in any other season under Harbaugh, they made three additional appearances in the AFC Championship Game.
Harbaugh is one of the most respected coaches in the NFL and it’s not often a coach with 180 wins comes available. That will make him highly coveted for interviews by teams with vacancies. According to reports, the sudden addition of Harbaugh could even force teams that aren’t currently looking for a head coach to reevaluate.