NFL Rumors: Inside Ravens broken locker room, Brian Flores dilemma, Nagy's popularity

The NFL coaching carousel got a shock to the system on Tuesday, when the Baltimore Ravens made the seismic decision to part ways with head coach John Harbaugh after nearly two decades at the helm. Almost immediately, a less-than-stellar group of potential candidates got flipped on its head, while Baltimore hopes the opportunity to coach with Lamar Jackson jumps it to the front of the line of vacancies.

But just why did the Ravens decide to make this move? The latest round of NFL rumors has more detail on that, as well as a couple of other high-profile coaching candidates with some red flags that should make teams a bit nervous.

John Harbaugh 'lost the locker room' — and not just Lamar Jackson

We see it happen all the time: The minute a dysfunctional season ends, or a coach gets fired, all the dirty laundry gets aired by unnamed sources who finally feel free to express any number of grievances. While the rest of the league is scrambling to position itself to land John Harbaugh after he was let go, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport has shed some more light on just what led the team to make that decision — and it sounds like a separation may be the best thing for all involved.

"It is not just they didn't go far enough in the playoffs," Rapaport said. "Harbaugh lost the locker room. At the end, players just simply had doubts about whether or not they wanted to play for him as their head coach. It's not just Lamar Jackson; it started with Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson not being on the same page, and it continued throughout the locker room."

On the one hand, it's unfair to lay all of the blame for the Ravens' collapse this season at Harbaugh's feet. Recent mismanagement (and some underratedly poor draft classes) had left Baltimore's roster was already starved for depth before injuries began to take their toll, and there's also plenty of smoke suggesting that Jackson isn't the easiest quarterback to coach despite his prodigious talent.

Then again, 18 seasons is an awfully long time at the top of any organization. No matter how good a coach you are, it's only natural that eventually you'll have a hard time reaching your players in the way you once did; after a while, familiarity is such that your voice starts to fade into the background. It's plenty believable that Harbaugh just wasn't getting the same sort of buy-in he once did, and if that's the case, you can understand why the Ravens felt a change was necessary — especially as they watch Mike Macdonald have so much success with the Seattle Seahawks.

Brian Flores' Dolphins tenure could scare some teams away

While Harbaugh appears to be the top name on everybody's big board right now, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has also been a commodity thus far in the coaching carousel. It's not hard to see why: He's done extremely impressive work since arriving in Minnesota in 2023, taking a roster that wasn't exactly overflowing with impact talent and turning it into one of the most challenging units in the league. One of the best coordinators in football with prior head coaching experience? That's a pretty nice package, especially in this wide-open field of candidates.

Then again, it might be worth interrogating that prior head coaching experience a bit more. Flores' three years with the Miami Dolphins are best remembered for the controversy at the end; he was fired after consecutive winning seasons, and then ultimately sued the league over alleged racial discrimination. Setting all that aside, though, is there reason for concern about how he handled the responsibilities that come with the head job?

His former quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, seems to think so. Asked about his experience under Flores, Fitzpatrick was plenty complimentary about his coaching acumen and his initial time in Miami. But toward the end, he "burned a lot of bridges," alienating himself from his staff and suffering from an inflated ego.

Obviously, that's just one player's perspective, and it was a while ago at this point. Flores may well have changed and grown from the experience, or Fitzpatrick is just in the minority. But it's a helpful reminder of just how different being a head coach is from being a coordinator, and how it's hard to know whether any given candidate is set up for success unless and until we see them do it.

Matt Nagy remains a puzzlingly popular head coaching candidate

Of course, Flores' first run as a head coach went gangbusters compared to Matt Nagy, who was run out of Chicago after just one winning season in four years. And yet, in the early days of the coaching carousel, the Chiefs offensive coordinator appears to be a very popular man, having already scheduled interviews with the Raiders, Cardinals and Titans.

These reports need to be taken with a healthy grain of salt. Teams cast a very wide net this time of year, and there's no harm bringing someone in for an interview even if they're not particularly high on your list — if for no other reason than to pick their brain about schematic ideas or even potential assistants for your next staff.

At least we hope that's what's going on, because it's tough to find a reason to get excited about the prospect of giving Nagy a second chance. Things got steadily worse for him in Chicago after going 12-4 in year one, success that had more to do with an excellent defense than Nagy's own side of the ball. And speaking of which: It's not like his work with the Chiefs does much to recommend him, considering how Kansas City has slid since he returned to the OC position in 2023. Then again, Patrick Mahomes casts an awfully long shadow.