Ravens roll the dice

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By Mike Jones

OWINGS MILLS, Md.

John Harbaugh has heard the critics. He knows the knocks against his resume. But he doesn't have a problem with any of it. He's aware that his path to head coach of the Baltimore Ravens is unconventional but simply shrugs it off almost as if to say conventionalism is overrated.

After all, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti basically did the same thing last January when he ended his club's coaching search with the hiring of Harbaugh, who had no previous experience as a head coach or even offensive or defensive coordinator.

The Ravens had just come off of a 5-11 season, which followed a 13-3 campaign and a loss in the playoff opener. Canned was Brian Billick, who had guided the Ravens to their first and only title in 2000. And on was the search for a replacement.

Bisciotti, general manager Ozzie Newsome and their staff narrowed their list down to six candidates before first offering the job to Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. But Garrett turned down the offer in favor of a raise and promotion to assistant head coach from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

So the Ravens turned their attention to Harbaugh, who despite his lack of head coaching experience and his relatively young age was far from green.

The 45-year-old Harbaugh's genetic makeup is laced with football, and he had 25 years of coaching experience. He's the son of 41-year coaching veteran Jack Harbaugh - former head coach at both Western Michigan and Western Kentucky - and brother to 13-year NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, now the head football coach at Stanford.

"I just think the thing is it makes it really natural what I want to see," Harbaugh said after a walk-through last week. "I've been around it my whole life. My dad had a great perception of what the best way to do things are, so to speak. And plus I have people that I can go to like my dad, or Andy Reid or my brother, or Tom Crean at Indiana and say, 'Hey what about this? What do you think?' That's a big plus."

And after concluding his college career at Miami (Ohio), where he played defensive back, John Harbaugh began the journey that ultimately would lead him to Baltimore. The path began with an assistant's position at Western Michigan from 1984 to 1986, progressed to Pittsburgh (1987), Morehead State (1988), the University of Cincinnati (1989-96) and Indiana (1997).

In 1998 Harbaugh landed his first NFL gig, serving under Ray Rhodes as special teams coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. One of only four assistants retained from Rhodes' tenure when Andy Reid was hired in Philadelphia the following season, Harbaugh continued to improve the Eagles' special teams units until 2006. In 2001, Harbaugh was voted NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year by his peers.