Where Ravens go after firing John Harbaugh; Pete Prisco's final 2025 NFL Power Rankings
Between NFL coach terminations, portal moves and one draft declaration it was a busy day
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6 min read
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Good morning and happy hump day, sports fans! It's Austin Nivison greeting you this fine Wednesday morning. The news in the sports world hits quickly nowadays. Blink and you miss transfer portal mayhem. Oh, while you were getting portal updates, you missed the latest intel on the NFL coaching carousel. See what I mean?
Before anymore news breaks, let's dive into the biggest stories of the morning.
🔥 Five things to know Wednesday
- The Ravens fired John Harbaugh after 18 seasons. In the wake of the Ravens' heartbreaking loss against the Steelers on Sunday night, Baltimore fired Harbaugh after nearly two decades on the job. Harbaugh went 180-113 in Baltimore, and he led the team to a Super Bowl XLVII win. If Harbaugh wants to coach again, he won't have to wait long. A number of teams already contacted him, including at least one that still has its current coach in place. As for the Ravens, they should have a lengthy list of possible replacements for Harbaugh as one of the hottest openings across the league.
- Washington QB Demond Williams Jr. is entering the transfer portal. Just days after reports emerged that Williams would return to Washington in 2026, the rising junior announced intentions to hit the transfer portal. Williams should command big money after throwing for more than 3,000 yards last season, but don't expect Washington to go down without a legal fight. Oh, and expect LSU to be in the mix as Williams explores his options.
- The Lions fired OC John Morton after just one season in the role. Morton had some big shoes to fill when hired to replace former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and his tumultuous first season is also his last. While Detroit's offense stepped back in 2025, it was still productive at 28.3 points per game. However, Dan Campbell took over play calling duties prior to Week 10 and never relinquished them.
- The Cowboys did the same thing with DC Matt Eberflus. The Cowboys hoped Eberflus, who was replaced by Ben Johnson with the Bears, could inject some life into their defense. However, for most of the season, he had the opposite effect. Dallas was dead last in the NFL in scoring defense and passing defense, and that resulted in the team firing Eberflus after just one season as the defensive coordinator.
- Ohio State WR Carnell Tate declared for the 2026 NFL Draft. NFL teams with a need at wide receiver were excited to see this news on Tuesday night. Tate has set his sights on the NFL after totaling 121 catches for 1,872 yards, 14 touchdowns and one national championship ring. Now, Tate immediately becomes one of the top receivers in the 2026 draft. Our own Mike Renner had Tate going to the Commanders at No. 8 overall in his latest mock draft.
🏀 Do not miss this: Cooper Flagg comes up clutch again
Can the clutch gene be developed? Or are you simply born with it? No matter what that answer is, Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg definitely has it.
It would be tough to blame Flagg, who just turned 19 less than three weeks ago, for being a little tentative or deferring to his teammates in high-leverage moments. Instead, Flagg loves having the ball in his hands, and Dallas is better for it. Flagg has scored 70 clutch points, those scored in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points.
That ranks sixth in the league, and it puts Flagg head and shoulders above other highly-touted rookies in recent history, as Jasmyn Wimbish explains.
- Wimbish: "To put that into perspective, Victor Wembanyama scored 84 clutch points his rookie season. Anthony Edwards scored 43 points. Cade Cunningham had 67 points. Since the league has been tracking clutch stats, only six rookies have scored 100 or more clutch points. Flagg could get to 100 clutch points before the All-Star break. He could break Brandon Jennings rookie clutch points record of 138 points by season's end, if the Mavericks continue this trend of down-to-the-wire finishes."
Speaking of clutch, Kevin Durant said it was pretty satisfying to hit the game-winning shot against the Suns, his former team.
🏈 Pete Prisco's NFL Power Rankings retrospective
Where did the time go? We blinked and the 2025 NFL regular season is over, and that means we've reached the final edition of Pete Prisco's NFL Power Rankings. With that in mind, he displayed an admirable amount of accountability and reviewed what he got wrong in his initial rankings.
A couple of his misses were putting the Chiefs and Ravens -- neither of which are playoff teams -- in his top five. Pete can be forgiven, though, because I don't remember too many people doubting those teams in early September. On the other end of the spectrum, Prisco admitted that he didn't see the Patriots or the Seahawks taking off like they did.
- Prisco: "The Seahawks and Patriots were my biggest misses. Seattle ended up as the No. 1 seed in the NFC -- and my final No. 1 team in the power rankings -- and I had them at 22. New England is No. 2 in the AFC and second in these final rankings. Maybe those Seahawks fans who get nasty with me are on to something. I was wrong."
I won't give a sneak peek of the full rankings this week. (It's the last batch until the 2026 season, so go cherish them.) However, I offer fans of non-playoff teams some hope, courtesy of Josh Edwards.
👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
- Duke snapped out of its defensive funk and bowed up against Louisville.
- The Commanders parted ways with OC Kliff Kingsbury, who is also a candidate for other jobs.
- Former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett is expected to interview with the Titans.
- The NFL coaching carousel is spinning at a dizzying rate, so get all your updates in our live tracker.
- The CFB coaching carousel has gotten slower, so here are the top 20 coordinator hires.
- UNLV transfer Anthony Colandrea is headed to Nebraska after Kenny Minchey pump faked the Huskers.
- Big spenders: Texas Tech celebrated signing QB Brendan Sorsby with a Times Square ad.
- Ole Miss RB Kewan Lacy rebuffed Lane Kiffin and re-signed with the Rebels.
- Texas WR Parker Livingstone is crossing the Red River and going to Oklahoma.
- Players are portaling at a dizzying rate, so stay up to date with our live tracker.
- These three mock trades could make sense for the Hawks and Trae Young.
- Stopping Michigan isn't easy, but here's how it can be done.
- Kon Knueppel's stock has gone up in our 2025 NBA Draft redraft.
- Even elite WBB teams like UConn and South Carolina are facing some questions.
- Avalanche warning: Colorado cleaned up in our NHL midseason awards.
📺 What we're watching Wednesday
⚽ Barcelona vs. Athletic Club, 2 p.m. on ESPN2
⚽ Manchester United at Burnley, 3:15 p.m. on USA Network
🏀 Nuggets at Celtics, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Stars at Capitals, 7 p.m. on TNT
🏀 St. John's at No. 1 UConn (W), 7:30 p.m. on truTV
🏀 Washington at No. 5 Purdue, 8:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network
🏀 Kansas State at No. 1 Arizona (M), 9 p.m. on FS1
🏀 No. 13 Alabama at No. 11 Vanderbilt (M), 9 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Arizona State at No. 9 BYU (M), 9 p.m. on NBCSN
🏀 No. 15 Arkansas at Ole Miss, 9 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 Cal at No. 23 Virginia, 9 p.m. on ACC Network
🏀 Lakers at Spurs, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Blues at Blackhawks, 9:30 p.m. on TNT
