Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun is reporting the Ravens will hire Eagles secondary coach John Harbaugh to replace Brian Billick as the team’s head coach.

Hensley writes the team will announce Harbaugh at a noon press conference tomorrow.

Harbaugh was the Ravens second choice, behind Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who turned down their offer in favor of Dallas’s offer to remain in his current role.

Stephen at Ravens TD stopped at a McDonalds in Nowhere, Ill., to get a WiFi connection so he could write about it.

The former Miami University defensive back, until his hire, was known as a fast-rising assistant. Harbaugh has had more than his fair share of interest over the past two seasons. He was a finalist for the head coaching position at UCLA, which, incidentally went to Rick Neuheisel, who was Baltimore’s offensive coordinator in 2007, and their quarterbacks coach in 2006. Hensley writes:

Although Harbaugh might not have the typical credentials of some other head coaching candidates, he has been on the radar of several NFL teams. One high-ranking Ravens official predicted last year that Harbaugh would be an excellent head coach if a team took a chance on him.

Harbaugh will become the third head coach in Baltimore Ravens history, behind Ted Marchibroda and Billick - who was fired after the Ravens’ 5-11 season in 2007.

Harbaugh, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin (former Vikings defensive coordinator), Bengals coach Marvin Lewis (former Ravens defensive coordinator) and Browns coach Romeo Crennel (former Patriots defensive coordinator) rounds out the AFC North’s head coaches, all of whom have a defensive background.

Harbaugh is the only one without a Super Bowl ring, however. Tomlin was the secondary coach in Tampa Bay when they won the Super Bowl in 2003. Crennel won three titles with New England, and Lewis was Billick’s defensive coordinator in 2000 when the Ravens last won it all.

Harbaugh rose through the coaching ranks fast enough to be able to skip the traditional ascent. While most NFL coaches have at least a season as a coordinator, Harbaugh was the Eagles’ special teams coach for nine seasons, before being named the secondary coach just this past season.

He is the brother of former NFL QB Jim Harbaugh, the head coach at Stanford.

Apparently, the allure of millions of dollars guaranteed, the likely instant insertion into the starting lineup and the various other minor perks of becoming a pro athlete weren’t enough for Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis.

Cleveland Plain-Dealer reporter Doug Lesmerises (who’s name is almost as hard to spell as the linebacker’s) is reporting Laurinaitis will stay in Columbus, skipping out on a seemingly certain top-10 selection in April’s draft.

Nod to MDS.

Laurinaitis told Lesmerises he spoke with former Buckeye and current Green Bay Packer linebacker A.J. Hawk.

“I talked to A.J. and he said you can’t take back that college experience,” Laurinaitis said. “And I can do nothing but solidify my draft position with another year, and this was the right decision for me and he helped me with it.

While Laurinaitis can do nothing but solidify his draft position, plenty of opponents in the Big 10 and beyond could. The difference in guaranteed money between a top 10 pick and a fourth round is infinite; around $10-$12 million and zero. One injury could cost him plenty.

But you can’t get that college experience back. Nevermind the opportunity to set up three generations of financial earning power, the draw of those keggers in Columbus combined with getting mauled in the BCS title game are too much to pass up.

With the hot stove is already scorching, the Sports Cartel would like to serve up a hearty congratulations to the 2007 AL Cy Young award winner: C.C. Sabathia.

After the Red Sox’s Dustin Pedroia deservingly took the AL Rookie of Year honors yesterday, Mr. Sabathia proved that the Red Sox don’t have to win everything by running away with the award in impressive fashion. The 6′7″, 290 pound southpaw won it by taking 19 of 28 first place votes; Red Sox’s ace Josh Beckett finished second.

Sabathia becomes the first black pitcher to win the award since Dwight Gooden’s miracle season for the 1985 New York Mets. The twenty-seven year old lefty has spent his entire career with Tribe, quietly becoming one of the best young arms in the game over the past few years.

In years past it was safe to say that most baseball analysts would have a called Sabathia a thrower with great stuff, but over the last two seasons he has become a pitcher. C.C. really understands how to work the plate and get guys out, not just how to throw hard.

Congrats, C.C.!