Imagine how effective they could be if working together.
At their joint news conference Friday, someone asked the brothers
if they would consider teaming up if either should be forced out of his
current post.
``No question about it,'' John said. ``We've had that
conversation in the past. It just never really worked out timing-wise.
I'd love to work for Jim. It would be the greatest thing in the world.''
Jim, coach of the San Francisco 49ers, said, ``"Definitely, I would work for him.''
Super Bowl tradition dictates that the coaches meet with the media separately two days before the Super Bowl. That custom was altered Friday because, after all, two brothers have never before coached against each other in the Super Bowl.
Wearing a dark suit, white shirt, striped tie and laced business
shoes, John settled into a director's chair behind a Ravens helmet. Jim,
wearing a 49ers hat, a sweat shirt, khaki pants and running shoes, sat
in an identical chair behind a San Francisco helmet.
Calling it ``an exciting moment,'' John ticked off the names of
family members in attendance, including his parents. They posed for
pictures with grandfather Joe Sepidi on the stage afterward, too.
Jack Harbaugh, their father, was a successful college coach. His
sons followed in his footsteps, but on different paths. There was one
time, however, when the routes nearly merged.
``We almost made it happen at Stanford at one time,'' John said.
``It would be an honor to have him on the staff. He's a great coach. You
always try to get great coaches, and there are none better than Jim
Harbaugh, and I mean that seriously. There's no better coach in the
National Football League than this guy right here.''
To which Jim added, ``Well, Jack Harbaugh.''
The family coaching tree could run even deeper one day. Jim's son, Jay, works for John as a coaching intern with the Ravens.
``He's far better than we've anticipated, and I knew he would be great at what he does,'' John said.
The brothers obviously had a lot of fun with the situation, joking with each other and sometimes acting like a comedy team.
Someone asked them to list their commonalities and philosophical differences.
``I would be hard-pressed to spell philosophical right now,'' Jim said.
``I know he can't spell commonalities,'' John said, not missing a beat.
Although Jack Harbaugh has received much of the credit for
molding the boys into coaches, the brothers revealed that their mother,
Jackie, also had a great deal of influence on their growth into men.
``There is no one in the family who has more competitive fire
than my mother.
She competes like a maniac. She has just always believed
in us, and I think that is the most important thing to me. She believed
in me, John, and Joanie, and took us to games and played catch with us,
shot baskets with us, and just believed in us.''
``No one would fight harder for us than our mom, no matter what
the situation was, or teach us how to have each other's back and be
there for one another,'' John said. ``We may have been talking football
with dad in the basement, but mom was talking about other things. There
were a lot of things going on in our world during the `70s, and Mom was
always tuned in on those kinds of things.''
Someone asked the brothers whether they considered how they will
handle the postgame handshake. Jim Harbaugh enraged Detroit Lions coach
Jim Schwartz for giving him a quick handshake and a hard backslap after a
2011 game, but that certainly won't be an issue Sunday night.
``I've given absolutely no consideration to the postgame hand
shake or bear hug or anything else,'' John said. ``I haven't thought
about that for one second. Have you, Jim?''
``I have not,'' Jim confirmed.
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