(AP) — OWINGS MILLS, Md. John and Jim Harbaugh are back at the top of the football world eleven years after making the Super Bowl one of the most unforgettable family get-togethers ever.
The two coaches will not impede one another this time around as they are pursuing separate goals.
The Baltimore Ravens, led by John Harbaugh, own the best record in the NFL and have secured the first seed in the AFC playoffs. John stated he intends to watch Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan team play Washington on Monday night in Houston for the college football national championship.
Their younger sister Joani Crean remarked, “I’ve never seen either of them have as much fun with their team as they’re having right now.” “It makes me genuinely happy.”
By now, the family ought to be accustomed to the attention. John’s Ravens defeated Jim’s San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl at the end of the 2012 season. After the 2014 season, Jim took over the Michigan program, and the Wolverines are currently competing for a national championship.
Naturally, Jim has been as divisive as ever this season. He was suspended twice, first by his university due to claims of recruiting infractions and then by the Big Ten as a result of the fallout from Michigan’s sign-stealing incident. John Harbaugh was there for his brother during it all, telling him at one point that Jim had “come through this thing with flying colors” and that an examination of his computers and phones had turned up nothing significant.
John invited Jim over to watch when he was suspended for a road game against Maryland.
The atmosphere at Michigan has been much more joyous lately. Following the Rose Bowl semifinal victory over Alabama on Monday, Jim, John, and Joani’s parents, Jack and Jackie Harbaugh, conducted a lively and amiable interview with Detroit television station WXYZ. Jack claimed that he and Jackie superstitiously switched seats during a crucial juncture in the game.
That is very characteristic of them. John Harbaugh stated on Wednesday that “it probably did make the difference.” “My dad is entertaining, but he’s also quite polished—he’sdoneinterviews before.” You can ask my mother what she thinks; all you have to do is put a microphone in front of her face or spend a short while with her. She will tell you what she thinks.
Jim was a quarterback at Michigan in the middle of the 1980s, and Jack was an assistant coach under Bo Schembechler. John was Miami of Ohio’s defensive back. Jim has made the family’s proverb, “Who’s got it better than us?” somewhat well-known. John has been sporting a shirt with that question on it, colored like the Ravens.
The Ravens and Michigan have close ties, especially under the Harbaughs’ leadership. One of Schembechler’s catchphrases, “The team, the team, the team,” is displayed on the wall of the Ravens stadium.
Before the 2021 season, Jim Harbaugh hired Mike Macdonald, the linebackers coach for the Ravens, as his defensive coordinator when things weren’t going well at Michigan. Having assisted the Wolverines in winning a Big Ten championship, Macdonald returned to Baltimore to take up the position of defensive coordinator. The Michigan defense is currently led by Jesse Minter, a former member of John Harbaugh’s staff who worked for the Ravens from 2017 to 2020.
Former Michigan player Ben Mason, who plays fullback for the Baltimore practice squad, said, “The men running it, Jim and John Harbaugh, are very similar to the culture of Michigan and the Ravens.”
The Ravens have a first-round bye in the playoffs after concluding the regular season on Saturday.
Mason mentioned that he might “possibly” attend Monday’s Michigan vs. Washington game in Houston. John Harbaugh and his spouse Ingrid are on their way down that way.
Crean is wed to ESPN analyst Tom Crean, a former Marquette, Indiana, and Georgia basketball coach. Although she lives in Florida, she attended the Michigan vs. Ohio State game as well as the Ravens preseason game in Tampa Bay. She plans to watch Jim in Houston, just like John Harbaugh did.
Each member of a family possesses a unique personality. They have similar interests,” she remarked. “Perhaps they approach things differently, but that’s more perception than fact, in my opinion. They are compassionate people. That may not be what people want to hear, but it is the reality. Sports teams are successful in part because there is nothing fake about them and you cannot fake anything in a locker room or a building.
