Brotherly Bond: Jim and John Harbaugh Q&A
3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 13, 2015
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Harbaugh boys were back together again on Thursday afternoon (March 12). John arrived from Baltimore, where he has coached the Ravens to excellence, and took in a four-hour Michigan football practice orchestrated by his younger brother, Jim.
It had been 42 years since they saw their first Wolverines practice on this same field, wide-eyed kids who'd just moved to town from Iowa. Their dad, Jack, was Bo Schembechler's defensive backs coach from 1973 through 1979. The practice field was outdoors then, and now it was covered in a state-of-the-art facility known as the Al Glick Field House.
And instead of playing catch on the sidelines, the Harbaugh boys were the center of attention. John will speak on Friday (March 13) at Jim's sold-out University of Michigan Spring Football Clinic. He said he hadn't been here since 2007 on a pro day the Wolverines were holding for NFL coaches and scouts.
Plenty had happened in the eight years since his last visit. Jim was beginning to build Stanford back into a national power before taking over the San Francisco 49ers, and John was headed into his final season as a Philadelphia Eagles assistant before getting the top job in Baltimore.
Jim and John both hit the floor running as pro head coaches.
The Harbaugh brothers are the only two coaches in NFL history to reach conference championship games in three of their first five seasons in the league. Though, Jim only stayed for four years before taking the Michigan job on Dec. 30.
They coached against one another in Super Bowl XLVII, with the Ravens holding off the 49ers, 34-31, in New Orleans.
Jim made the playoffs in three of his four seasons in San Francisco, while John has done likewise in seven of his eight years in Baltimore.
Jim was 44-19-1 (.695) in the NFL, while John is 82-45 (.646).
Jim was 5-3 (.625) in playoff games, while John is 10-5 (.667).
Time, said John, has flown by since they were boys in Ann Arbor.
"The days are long," said John, "but the years are short."
The Harbaughs, now 51 and 52, recalled the past and discussed the present in exclusive interviews with MGoBlue.com.
Q. What's a favorite memory about being around Michigan football while you were growing up?
John: I remember that Calvin O'Neal (an All-American in 1976) taught me how to bench press. That's something you always remember. Calvin O'Neal was a great linebacker and a pretty strong guy. I was in the weight room messing around one day and he said, 'Get over here; I'll show you how to do it.' He put a towel on my chest and I'm bouncing the bar off my chest.
And then there was (All-American quarterback) Rick Leach, who was here to today. We were like his buddies -- his little pals. Derek Howard was one of my favorite players, too, all the defensive backs who played for my dad. Derek Howard coached me at Ann Arbor Pioneer High when I was a junior and he was coaching the defensive backs.
Jim: Just being able to be here at Michigan with our dad was the best. It was a place to come to after school, and we got to get on the field to throw balls around and punt. I loved coming to practices. We'd create our own games.
I liked the kickers. Like Greg Willner was one of my favorite players. He had real small feet and would let me use his cleats. I was like a size six and he was a size eight, and I'd put a little tissue paper in there, tape 'em up, kind of spat 'em. Jim Breaugh, the quarterback with the really curly hair, I liked. The guys who were the nicest to kids were the ones I liked. A lot of the guys didn't like me because they thought I was just a snotty-nosed kid. But Jim Breaugh thought I was funny. He liked me and would talk to me and play catch with me. And the defensive backs my dad coached were always nice to me -- Jim Pickens, Dave Brown and Jim Bolden were really neat to me.
But the fun thing was that we knew how to sneak into the IM building. So, we could go over there to the gymnastics room, where we had a trampoline. We'd jump up and down on that, and then swing on the rings. We'd get into pickup basketball games as seventh and eighth graders with the college kids. We had a swimming pool in there that sometimes we got to swim in.
And there was a Coke machine in the basement of the (athletic department offices) at 1000 State Street -- which also had a pool table. We used to get the balls for free, and the Coke machine ... we knew how to stick our arms up into it and loosen one up. And we could get free Cokes. We had a long list of things we really enjoyed.
Q. What does it mean to have Jim back coaching the Wolverines?
John: Until you get here and you see it -- you see him in this environment -- is when it really hit me because Michigan means so much to us. We have so much invested in Michigan in our lives. And now to see Jim with the 'M' hat on and to see the guys out here, and this is his team. I can't even put it all into words. But what I know is that it just feels right. This is the way it should be.
Q. What does it mean to hear John say those things and to be having this family affair with Michigan football all over again?
Jim: It's really good, but today I was just more focused on the practice.
Q. What does it mean to have John back here this weekend at practices and speaking at your coaching clinic?
Jim: It means a lot. He's my brother. He's my best friend. And I'd expect nothing less (laughter).
Q. What do you admire most about your brother?
John: His toughness and competitiveness. But what I most admire is how he is with his family (wife Sarah and six children). I see what kind of a great dad he is with his girls and (youngest son) Jack, and how loving he is. Seeing him with them up on his shoulders at Disney World, that's the best.
And seeing how he treats my daughter, Alison (13). He treats her like a king. He showed Alison his basketball defensive tricks of the trade. That's what you appreciate. She plays basketball and lacrosse, and says she wants to play lacrosse at Michigan. So, we'll see if the program's ready for her (laughter).
Jim: There are so many things. John really embodies the three Fs: faith, family and football -- those being his priorities. And his priorities are at the highest levels. Our parents were tremendous examples of those as well. But John lives it for sure.
Q. Being exactly 15 months apart, it must have felt like you were twins at times. The older brother wasn't a whole lot older. What kind of bond did that bring for you?
John: It made us real close. We know how each other thinks. It's not like we have to explain how we're thinking to one another. Usually, we're three steps ahead with each other in the conversations. It's like, 'How did we get to this point?' We know, but nobody else knows. And there was that competitive part of it. I always rooted for Jim wherever he played -- here and in the pros -- I lived and died with his games.
Jim: We always shared a room. Wherever we lived, whatever town we were in, we always had a room. So, for 16 straight years, until he went off to college (at Miami of Ohio), I had somebody to share everything with, somebody to laugh with and tell stories to, get advice from.
I remember those times when we were supposed to be sleeping and our parents had put us down to bed. It would be: whisper, whisper, whisper. And then we'd start talking and laughing. Mom and Dad yell up, 'Go to sleep!' So we'd start whispering again, and before long we'd be talking. Those were some of the best times -- just there in that bedroom with things that were shared or talked about, and the laughs we had.
Q. Did anyone ever mistake you for twins?
John: Nah, he was usually bigger and better looking. He had the edge.
The older brother spoke while standing on the sideline of a practice his younger brother was running. He was greeted by countless former Wolverines and high school coaches, all wanting a bit of his time. And he obliged as if they were the most important person in his life for the moment. But John never took his eye off the field for long. That guy he shared a bedroom with for 16 years, while also sharing one another's hearts and dreams, couldn't make him any prouder. The wide smile on his face and warm look in his eyes told you that.
• Kornacki: Harbaugh Brothers Teaming Up as Past Meets Present
