John Harbaugh

John W. Harbaugh (born September 23, 1962) is an American football coach and the current head coach of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL).^[1] Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles^[2] and served as the Eagles special teams coach for nine years. Harbaugh and his younger brother, former San Francisco 49ers and now University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, are the first pair of brothers in NFL history to serve as head coaches. Jack Harbaugh, Jim and John's father, served 45 years as a college defensive coach, an assistant coach, and a running backs coach.^[3] John and the Ravens beat his brother, Jim, and the 49ers at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans on February 3, 2013 by a score of 34-31.

Harbaugh is widely respected for his intense work ethic and is considered one of the best head coaches currently in the NFL. He has led the Ravens to 90 wins (including playoffs) since his tenure began in 2008, second most in the NFL over that span. His 10 playoff wins are the most by any head coach in the NFL since 2008.

Early life

Harbaugh was born in Toledo, Ohio, to Jacqueline M. "Jackie" (née Cipiti) and Jack Avon Harbaugh.^[4] His mother is of half-Sicilian and half-Polish descent, and his father has Irish and German ancestry.^[4]

Harbaugh graduated from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, during which time father Jack was an assistant under Bo Schembechler at the nearby University of Michigan. Harbaugh attended college at Miami (Ohio) University where he graduated in 1984. ^[5]

Coaching career

College

Harbaugh worked as an assistant at Western Michigan (1984–1987), Pitt (1987), Morehead State (1988), Cincinnati (1989–1996) and Indiana (1997).

Philadelphia Eagles assistant

He was first hired in the NFL in 1998 by the Philadelphia Eagles then head coach Ray Rhodes, and was one of four assistant coaches retained by new head coach Andy Reid in 1999. As such, he is in the Sid Gillman coaching tree. In 2004, he was mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Gary Darnell as the head football coach at Western Michigan, where he had earned a master's degree and was an assistant football coach from 1984–1987.

In 2007, after serving as Eagles' special-teams coach for nine years, he became their defensive-backs coach. This fulfilled his request to head coach Reid and improved his chances of landing a head coaching job, since executives at that time viewed special teams coaches as unqualified to move up to head coach.

Baltimore Ravens head coach

On January 19, 2008 he became the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens after the team's first choice Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett turned down the offer. He was not considered one of the favorites for the job until he was interviewed. He impressed team owner Steve Bisciotti and Vice President of Player Personnel/General Manager Ozzie Newsome. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also recommended Harbaugh to Bisciotti by phone during the interview process.^[6] This helped Harbaugh to make the unusual leap from NFL position coach to head coach without previously serving as an offensive or defensive coordinator.

On January 23, 2008, Harbaugh hired longtime NFL offensive coach (and former head coach) Cam Cameron as offensive coordinator. (Cameron had previously hired Harbaugh as an assistant at Indiana.) Cameron was also quarterbacks coach for John's brother, Jim, during their time at Michigan. On September 7, 2008, in his debut as a head coach, John and his Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals. Until then, no team had ever won when a coach and a quarterback (Joe Flacco) were both making their NFL debut.

Harbaugh as the head coach of the Ravens

In his rookie season as a head coach, Harbaugh guided the Ravens to an 11–5 regular season record, good enough to qualify them for the playoffs as a wild card team. In the playoffs, he led the team to upset victories over the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.

On January 26, 2009, he named Greg Mattison the new defensive coordinator for the Ravens, replacing Rex Ryan who had left to take his first head coaching job (with the New York Jets). Mattison had served as linebacker coach and defensive coordinator for Harbaugh's father, Jack, at Western Michigan University from 1981–86, when Harbaugh was a graduate assistant and assistant coach for his father.

In his second season as Ravens' head coach, he once again led the team to the playoffs with a 9-7 record during the regular season and improved his playoff record to 3-1 with an upset victory over the New England Patriots in the AFC wild card round on January 10, 2010 before losing in the AFC divisional game to the Indianapolis Colts. He once again took the Ravens to the playoffs in 2010, beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild card round on January 9, 2011, before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round 31-24 on January 15 after starting the second half with a 14- point lead.

Harbaugh signed a three-year extension on February 14, 2011 that kept him under contract through 2014. The Ravens finished 2011 12-4, winning the AFC North division and sweeping the Steelers home and away before losing the AFC Championship Game to the New England Patriots after Lee Evans dropped a potential late game-winning pass and kicker Billy Cundiff flubbed a potential game-tying field goal. Neither Evans nor Cundiff made the 53-man 2012 roster.

John faced his younger brother Jim in Week 12 (2011) on Thanksgiving Day when John's Ravens beat Jim's San Francisco 49ers 16-6.

The 2012 Baltimore Ravens again met the Patriots in the AFC championship game (on January 20, 2013), got their revenge with a 28-13 victory (coming from behind with a 13-7 second half), and was the first time Tom Brady and Bill Belicheck lost a home game after leading at halftime, giving John the opportunity to face brother Jim and the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013.^[7] Many have pegged Super Bowl XLVII as the "Harbowl". John and the Ravens were victorious, defeating Jim and the 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII. Following the victory, John gave his entire staff replica Lombardi trophies to commemorate the victory.^[8]

In 2012, Harbaugh was awarded the third highest honor within the Department of the Army Civilian Awards, the Outstanding Civilian Service Award, for substantial contributions to the U.S. Army community while serving as the Baltimore Ravens Coach.

He was selected to be inducted into Miami (Ohio) "Cradle of Coaches" in 2013. ^[9]

On September 5, 2013, an hour before the Ravens played in the NFL regular season's opening game, it was reported that Harbaugh had signed a four-year contract extension in a deal that was reached "months ago."^[10]

Harbaugh is the only head coach in NFL history to win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons, according to NFL Network.

In each of Harbaugh's first four seasons and again in 2014, every AFC Champion beat the Ravens in the playoffs (although only the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers and 2014 New England Patriots were able to actually win the Super Bowl).

In the 2014 AFC Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs, Harbaugh's Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Heinz Field in a dominant 30-17 victory, which was the Ravens' first playoff victory against the Steelers in the history of the franchise. However, the next week, the Ravens lost 31-35 in the AFC Divisional round to the New England Patriots after the Ravens were unable to hold two separate 14-point leads. After the game, Harbaugh complained about the Patriots' uncommon but legal tactics of declaring receivers eligible and ineligible, saying "It was clearly deception."^[11]

In 2015, Harbaugh had his first losing season with the Ravens. The Ravens lost many close games and key players like Joe Flacco, Justin Forsett, Steve Smith Sr., Eugene Monroe, and Terrell Suggs all suffered season ending injuries. They finished in third place with a 5-11 record.

NFL head coaching record

Coaching tree

NFL head coaches under whom Harbaugh has served:

• Ray Rhodes, Philadelphia Eagles (1998)
• Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles (1999–2008)

Assistant coaches under Harbaugh who have become NFL head coaches:

• Rex Ryan, New York Jets (2009–2014), Buffalo Bills (2015-present)
• Hue Jackson, Oakland Raiders (2011), Cleveland Browns (2016-present)
• Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts (2012–present)
• Jim Caldwell, Detroit Lions (2014–present)
• Gary Kubiak, Denver Broncos (2015–present)
• Mike Pettine, Cleveland Browns (2014–2016)

Personal life

Harbaugh is a devout Roman Catholic.^[12][13] He is married to Ingrid Harbaugh, and they have one daughter.^[14]

Harbaugh's younger brother, Jim, a former NFL quarterback, is the current head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. Some say Jim and John are twins, but they are not. Their father, Jack, is a former head football coach at Western Michigan University and Western Kentucky University. John's sister, Joani, is married to Tom Crean, the head men's basketball coach at Indiana University.

References

External links

• Baltimore Ravens profile
• Stats at Pro-Football Reference