Harbaugh was born for this

Ravens first-year head coach John Harbaugh (above) follows in the impressive footsteps of his father, Jack, legendary Michigan leader Bo Schembechler and the Philadelphia Eagles' Andy Reid. (Baltimore Sun photo by Gene Sweeney Jr. / August 21, 2008)

John Harbaugh can't say when he first realized his dad, Jack, was a football coach.

The old man never sat him down and explained what he did. Harbaugh just assumed all kids got stuffed into lockers by college stars or baby-sat for sideline legends.

"It was our life," the Ravens coach said. "How our team did, being around the players, seeing how much our dad cared about them, even after they graduated. We thought everybody's dad was a football coach."

To Baltimore fans, Harbaugh, 45 - who will make his regular-season head coaching debut tomorrow - might seem new. But in no way does that word describe his relationship with the game he loves. Though his face is unlined and his teeth gleam, Harbaugh's football roots run deep, to the hard-hitting Midwestern game of the 1950s.

Harbaugh was in fifth grade when his father took a job on Bo Schembechler's staff at Michigan and moved the family to Ann Arbor. Schembechler believed that if you could execute the simple plays properly, you would rarely need the complicated ones. The philosophy led to a Hall of Fame career for Schembechler, and it shaped the way Jack and John Harbaugh coached.

"I probably heard [Bo] give pre-game talks 100times, and he never once failed to motivate me to the point where I had hairs standing up on my arm and neck," Jack Harbaugh recalled. "What drove you about Bo was that you knew how much he cared about the game and how much he cared about his players. You saw him and you wanted to work as hard as he worked, to believe how he believed. You worked so hard not to disappoint him."

John's mother, Jackie, saw her husband's passion and figured that if her boys were to know their father, they would have to join him at the practice field.

She mentioned this casually to Schembechler's wife, who spoke to the fiery coach. "Jack," Schembechler said the next day, "why don't you tell the kids to come on out here. They can lift a weight or kick the ball around. Just tell them to keep off my field."

Just like that, John Harbaugh and his younger brother, Jim, earned an invitation to one of the nation's great programs.

When John Harbaugh wanted Ravens employees to understand his philosophy, he distributed Schembechler's book on leadership as a guide. Throw yourself into something you love, know your values and stick to them, trust your people to set their own goals, practice how you intend to play, the legend said in his last statement to the world.

"You're going to model yourself after what you're familiar with," Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan said. "His dad ... is obviously the biggest influence on John, and he's very similar to what you read in the book about Schembechler. He's just a great coach, and he's himself. He's influenced by whom he's been around, and you can definitely see Bo in him."

But Harbaugh is about more than runs up the middle and bruising practices. He also worked with Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, father of the deep passing game, and put the finishing touches on his resume under Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid, one of the most successful descendants of West Coast passing genius Bill Walsh.

His mentors believe he is positioned to succeed in the NFL because he has learned under a wide range of coaches and because he has worked with players on both sides of the ball.

"I knew John was going to be a head coach," Reid said. "I knew he was wired the right way for it."

Rick Minter saw the potential in Harbaugh and put the young coach in charge of recruiting and special teams at the University of Cincinnati.

"Every step along the way helped him become the man he is today," Minter said. "So you have a guy who may be inexperienced as a head coach, but you have a guy who is as prepared as any to tackle the job."

If Harbaugh really is a product of the men who taught him, this is the kind of coach he will be. He'll be optimistic and passionate but won't tolerate those who fail to meet his standards. He'll ask his team to hit hard and do basic things well, during the week and on Sunday. He'll have a purpose for every moment of practice and excel at communicating those purposes to players. He won't have much interest in explaining himself to reporters or other outsiders. He'll defer leadership to assistants and veterans but will remain the clear and final voice on every important decision.

"He has the ability to touch and challenge every guy he comes across," said Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who first met Harbaugh when he worked at Michigan football camps in the 1970s with Jack Harbaugh. "We talk about players having that 'it' factor, something you can't describe but you can just see. Well, John has that."

Football coaches are nearly as aware of pedigree as horse breeders. And as John Harbaugh climbed the ranks, everyone knew he had fallen from a maize-and-blue tree, seeded by a coaching giant.

Bo Schembechler was an old-fashioned Midwesterner who knew where he stood and figured if a player couldn't meet him there, the kid should play elsewhere. He yelled liberally and proclaimed that all his players should be treated the same - like dogs. He couldn't abide liars and dealt with problems as quickly and directly as possible.

Related topic galleries: Defense, Colleges and Universities, Brian Dawkins, Philadelphia Eagles, Philosophy, Cam Cameron, Veterans Affairs

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