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PHILADELPHIA — The path Andy Reid and John Harbaugh crossed was unique in NFL coaching circles. Jack Harbaugh was the lone connection between the two when they first met, through significantly different circumstances.
Four decades ago, Jack Harbaugh was a college football coach who knew Reid from his days at BYU as a graduate assistant. Reid met Jack through former BYU coach LaVell Edwards and developed a friendship with him that ultimately led Reid to his eldest son, John.
Fast-forward to the present as the two will face off in Sunday’s NFC Championship when Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens host Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs in their first-ever meeting in a postseason setting.
Long before this moment, however, Harbaugh wasn’t sure if his NFL coaching career would be over before it really got started. Long before Harbaugh became the epicenter of the Ravens, the older of the Harbaugh brothers was brought on by Philadelphia Eagles head coach Ray Rhodes as the special teams coach in 1998.
The 1998 Eagles were one of the worst teams in franchise history, finishing with a 3-13 record that led to Rhodes’ firing. All of the sudden, the then-36-year-old Harbaugh was a holdover on one of the worst teams in the NFL.
A new head coach was coming in and preparing to put his own staff together. The first exchange with Reid, of course, went back to Jack.
“When I met John,” Reid said, “I’m going, ‘Man, if you’re half as good as your dad, you’re on,’ so it didn’t take very long.”
Somehow. Harbaugh was able to retain his job and convince Reid why he should be back.
“I was hoping to stay, and he gave me an opportunity to do it,” Harbaugh said earlier this week. “I was young and just figuring things out. That was good of him, and [I] hope he’s glad he did looking back on it.”
Harbaugh took his second opportunity with the Eagles and made the most of it, becoming one of Reid’s top…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2024-afc-championship-how-working-for-andy-reids-eagles-shaped-john-harbaugh-as-ravens-hc-faces-former-boss/
Author : Jeff Kerr
Publish date : 2024-01-27 16:54:43
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