OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the franchise heads into the offseason confident, healthy and with solid depth on both the offensive and defensive lines.

While Baltimore will have some tough decisions to make on several free agents, the team should have a strong group of players ready to make another deep playoff run next season. The Ravens advanced to the AFC divisional round despite dealing with several off-the-field issues and 19 players on injured reserve, including five in the secondary.

With the success in handling those challenges, Harbaugh sees a bright future moving forward.

“I thought the team, the players did a great job,” Harbaugh said at his season-ending press conference Tuesday. “I told them after the (Patriots) game there probably has never been a team that I’ve had a chance to be a part of – in 31 years as a coach, four years as a college player, all those years in high school and junior high – that I can remember a team that really let so little get in the way of them being the best they could possibly be, and really, directed all their energy and all their efforts toward the task at hand, and helping each other be the best players and people they could be and trying to win the next game.

“And because of that, they were the best that they could be, we felt like, throughout the course of the season, through all the adversities, challenges and even into the last game. I’m proud of those guys for that.”

Other highlights of the press conference included:

— Offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak is still expected to stay with the Ravens, despite reported interest from the Denver Broncos about their head coaching position. Kubiak released a statement on Jan. 11 about his intention remain on Harbaugh’s coaching staff.

“It is flattering and humbling to be invited to interview for a number of NFL head coaching positions, and I greatly appreciate these opportunities,” Kubiak said. “But I have decided to stay with the Ravens. This is a special organization and we, like Coach Harbaugh says, are building something great. I want to be a part of that and contribute in whatever ways I can.”

However, this announcement came prior to the Broncos parting ways with John Fox. Kubiak has strong ties to Denver. He spent nine seasons (1983-91) with the Broncos primarily as the backup to quarterback John Elway, who is now the franchise’s general manager and executive vice president of football operations. Kubiak later spent 11 seasons (1995-2005) as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator under Mike Shanahan.

Harbaugh had not heard that anything had changed with Kubiak’s desire to remain with the Ravens.

“I’m planning on Gary being back,” Harbaugh said. “I’m not anticipating that changing at this time. He’s told me he’s planning on being here. Denver hasn’t reached out in any way at this time.”

— Defensive backs coach and assistant head coach Steve Spagnuolo was given permission to interview for New York Giants’ defensive coordinator job. The interview was reportedly scheduled for Jan. 14.

“I don’t know what is going to happen with that, but that’s something that he deserves an opportunity to look at,” Harbaugh said. Spagnuolo also has strong ties to the Giants’ organization, serving as defensive coordinator in 2007-08 during their Super Bowl run.

— With the parting of ways with Fox, Harbaugh and the rest of the Ravens’ coaching staff accepted an invitation to be the coaches for the AFC at the Pro Bowl on Jan. 25 in Glendale, Ariz. — a week before Super Bowl XLIX. Harbaugh joked that one incentive is the difference in money the winning team makes compared to the losing team.

“There’s a difference between the winning share and losing share,” Harbaugh said. “That’s a big motivator. I’m going to have a good halftime speech ready. We’ll motivate them.”

The Cowboys coaching staff will lead the NFC.

— Even though undrafted rookie James Hurst did a solid job filling for the injured Eugene Monroe at left tackle, Harbaugh said Monroe will head into next season as the starter. Monroe did not play in the final three games of the season, including two playoff matchups. However, the depth of the offensive line will be one of the team’s strengths next season.

— Harbaugh said the team would like to re-sign running back Justin Forsett and wide receiver Torrey Smith, both of whom are unrestricted free agents. However, the team still needs to finalize its financial situation with the salary cap before making any offers.

Forsett finished the regular season with a career-high 1,266 yards and eight touchdowns. He signed with the team in the offseason for $730,000 — the veteran minimum. Smith led the team with a career-high 11 touchdowns.

“We’ll just have to see how it plays out,” Harbaugh said.

— Baltimore’s secondary was decimated with injuries and as a result, struggled for much of the season. Harbaugh expects many of those players to bounce back, most notably their top cornerback Jimmy Smith, who was placed on the injured reserve with a foot injury. While Harbaugh has not ruled out signing or drafting a player for the secondary, the players under contract should be able to come back strong.

“It’s really not a major overhaul in the sense of everybody is going to be cleaned out and we’re going to bring a bunch of new guys in.” Harbaugh said. “There are a lot of good players sitting in there because of the fact that we’ll be healthy and the fact that we brought some good players in because of what happened this year.”

— Harbaugh said he feels “blessed” to be with a dependable organization like the Ravens after seeing much of the upheaval in the coaching ranks already this year. Most notably, Fox departed from Denver despite posting a 46-18 record over four seasons. Harbaugh’s brother, Jim Harbaugh, was fired by San Francisco after going 49-22-1 also over four seasons. Jim Harbaugh has since accepted the head coaching position at Michigan.

“Obviously, I’m pretty close to the one with my brother (Jim Harbaugh), which I’m still at a loss about in a lot of ways,” Harbaugh said. “But I’m happy for him, because I think he’s going to be in a great situation going forward. But it does make me count my blessings. And I think all of our coaches … I know they feel that way, because here we are in an organization that from top to bottom is as well run with as good of people as you could ever hope for. So, I thank God. I’m grateful for it every single day.”