Harbaugh and his younger brother, former San Francisco 49ers and current Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh , are the first pair of brothers in NFL history to serve as head coaches. Jack Harbaugh , Jim and John's father, served 45 years as a college defensive coach, an assistant coach, and a running backs coach. Harbaugh has led the Ravens to wins including playoffs since his tenure began in , the third-most wins in the NFL over that span, and has surpassed Brian Billick for the most wins by a head coach in Baltimore Ravens franchise history.
In his sixteen-year tenure as Ravens head coach, Harbaugh has led the Ravens to twelve winning seasons and only two losing seasons. His 22 playoff game appearances are the second-most by any head coach in the NFL since He is also the only head coach in NFL history to win a playoff game in six of the first seven seasons of a coaching career and has the most road playoff wins by a head coach 8.
Harbaugh attended college and played varsity football as a defensive back at Miami University , where he graduated in Harbaugh worked as an assistant at Western Michigan β , Pitt , Morehead State , Cincinnati β , and Indiana He was first hired in the NFL in by the Philadelphia Eagles ' then head coach Ray Rhodes , and was one of four assistant coaches retained by new head coach Andy Reid in In , after serving as Eagles' special-teams coach for nine years, he became their defensive-backs coach.
On January 19, , Harbaugh was appointed the third-ever head coach of the Baltimore Ravens after Jason Garrett , the team's first choice, decided to stay with the Dallas Cowboys after receiving a raise and a promotion to assistant head coach. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also recommended Harbaugh to Bisciotti by phone during the interview process. In his first season as a head coach, Harbaugh guided the Ravens to an 11β5 regular season record, good enough to qualify them for the playoffs with a Wild Card berth.
On January 26, , he named Greg Mattison the defensive coordinator for the Ravens, replacing Rex Ryan who had left to take his first head coaching job with the New York Jets. In his second season as Ravens' head coach, he once again led the team to the playoffs with a 9β7 record during the regular season and improved his playoff record to 3β1 with an upset 33β14 victory over the New England Patriots in the AFC Wild Card Round on January 10, , before losing in the AFC Divisional Round 20β3 to the Indianapolis Colts.
