Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh denied that he was forced to hire Gary Kubiak as offensive coordinator.
ESPN reported Tuesday that owner Steve Bisciotti and general manager Ozzie Newsome influenced Harbaugh’s decision. Speculation arose because Kubiak emerged as a candidate so late in the process. The Ravens reportedly narrowed their search to two candidates before suddenly turning their attention to Kubiak late last week.
“Steve is always involved,” Harbaugh said when asked if Biscotti was heavy-handed in the hiring process. “Steve’s going to be involved. This is his team, and he sets the tone and the tempo for everything we do, and I listen, as we all do, to Steve’s advice. It would be foolish not to. Now, if you’re going further than that, then the answer is ‘no, no way.’ Steve gets involved to whatever extent he feels like he can help us, and that’s what he does.”
Last week, Harbaugh named former Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, Pittsburgh Steelers running backs coach Kirby Wilson (now with the Minnesota Vikings) and Ravens wide receivers coach Jim Hostler as candidates for the job.
The Ravens conducted second interviews with Shanahan, Hostler and Wilson at the end of last week. Wilson said Saturday that he was no longer a candidate, narrowing the search to Shanahan and Hostler.
At the time, Kubiak was not among the choices.
“I don’t think coach (Kubiak) and I had come to the idea that it could work,” Harbaugh said. “At the time, we talked about the four of them, then continued conversations with Gary and with Rick (Dennison), and that evolved, I would say, in the last few days — last five or six days.”
Kubiak said it was not until Sunday night while having dinner at Harbaugh’s home that the sides realized it could work.
“Of course, Gary Kubiak was on the list from the beginning, but within the last week, it became apparent that this had a chance to be a fit for both coach and for the Ravens, and we were able to finish it up this weekend,” Harbaugh said.
Kubiak was introduced by the team on Monday, along with Dennison as quarterbacks coach. Kubiak was fired as Houston Texans coach in December.