Why it matters to Ravens that Chip Kelly and the Eagles want to practice against them…

It’s actually a feather in John Harbaugh’s cap that Chip Kelly and the Eagles reached out to him for a joint practice with the Eagles this week.

I say that because Bill Belichick is Chip Kelly’s real-life mentor.

Even the Chippah knows that John Harbaugh is a great coach—and with a built-in Eagles pedigree after Harbs served a solid 10 years as an assistant under Ray Rhodes and Andy Reid at Philly, how could you consider John Harbaugh an enemy?

It’s an amazing gesture of respect by Chip Kelly for what could have been the heir apparent in Philly had not Harbaugh been recruited away by Baltimore back in 2008.

Harbaugh graduated from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, during which time father Jack was an assistant under Bo Schembechlerat the nearby University of Michigan. He played collegiately at Miami University as a defensive back, where he was a defensive teammate and roommate with Brian Pillman.

Harbaugh then worked as an assistant coach at Western Michigan (1984–1987),Pitt (1987), Morehead State (1988), Cincinnati (1989–1996) andIndiana (1997).

He was then hired in the NFL in 1998 by the Philadelphia Eagles then-head coach Ray Rhodes, and was one of four assistant coaches retained by new head coach Andy Reid in 1999. As such, he is in the Sid Gillman coaching tree. In 2004, he was mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Gary Darnell as the head football coach at Western Michigan, where John had earned a master’s degree and was an assistant football coach from 1984–1987.

In 2007, after serving as Eagles’ special teams coach for nine years, he became their defensive backs coach. This fulfilled his request to head coach Reid to give him a shot at coordinating the DB’s and improving his chances of landing a head coaching job, since executives at that time viewed special teams coaches as unqualified to move up to head coach.

Oh how wrong the traditional NFL executives were!

On January 19, 2008 he became the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens after the team’s first choice Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett turned down the offer.  He was not considered one of the favorites for the job until he was interviewed. He impressed team owner Steve Bisciotti and Vice President of Player Personnel/General Manager Ozzie Newsome. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also recommended Harbaugh to Bisciotti by phone during the interview process. This helped Harbaugh to make the unusual leap from NFL position coach to head coach without previously serving as an offensive or defensive coordinator.

On January 23, 2008, Harbaugh hired longtime NFL offensive coach (and former head coach) Cam Cameron as offensive coordinator. (Cameron had previously hired Harbaugh as an assistant at Indiana.) Cameron was also quarterbacks coach for John’s brother, Jim, during their time at Michigan. On September 7, 2008, in his debut as a head coach, John and his Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals. Until then, no team had ever won when a coach and a quarterback (Joe Flacco) were both making their NFL debut.

In his rookie season as a head coach, Harbaugh guided the Ravens to an 11–5 regular season record, good enough to qualify them for the playoffs as a wild card team. In the playoffs, he led the team to upset victories over the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titansbefore losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game.

On January 26, 2009, he named Greg Mattison the new defensive coordinator for the Ravens, replacing Rex Ryan who had left to take his first head coaching job (with the New York Jets). Mattison had served as linebacker coach and defensive coordinator for Harbaugh’s father, Jack, at Western Michigan University from 1981–86, when Harbaugh was a graduate assistant and assistant coach for his father.

In his second season as Ravens’ head coach, he once again led the team to the playoffs with a 9-7 record during the regular season and improved his playoff record to 3-1 with an upset victory over the New England Patriots in the AFC wild card round on January 10, 2010 before losing in the AFC divisional game to the Indianapolis Colts. He once again took the Ravens to the playoffs in 2010, beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild card round on January 9, 2011, before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round 31-24 on January 15 after starting the second half with a 14- point lead.

Harbaugh signed a three-year extension on February 14, 2011 that would keep him under contract through 2014. The Ravens finished 2011 at 12-4, winning the AFC North division and sweeping the Steelers home and away before losing the AFC Championship Game to the New England Patriots after Lee Evans dropped a potential late game-winning pass and kicker Billy Cundiff flubbed a potential game-tying field goal. Neither Evans nor Cundiff made the 53-man 2012 roster.

John faced his younger brother Jim in Week 12 (2011) on Thanksgiving Day when John’s Ravens beat Jim’s San Francisco 49ers 16-6.

The 2012 Baltimore Ravens again met the Patriots in the AFC championship game (on January 20, 2013), got their revenge with a 28-13 victory (coming from behind with a 13-7 second half), and it was the first time Tom Brady and Bill Belicheck lost a home game after leading at halftime, giving John the opportunity to face brother Jim and the 49ers inSuper Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013.  Many have pegged Super Bowl XLVII as the “Harbowl”. John and the Ravens were victorious, defeating Jim and the 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII. Following the victory, John gave his entire staff replica Lombardi trophies to commemorate the victory.

On September 5, 2013, an hour before the Ravens played in the NFL regular season’s opening game, it was reported that Harbaugh had signed a four-year contract extension in a deal that had been reached “months ago.”

Harbaugh is the only head coach in NFL history to win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons, according to NFL Network.

In each of Harbaugh’s first four seasons and again in 2014, every AFC Champion had to go through baltimore to beat the Ravens in the playoffs (although only the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers and 2014 New England Patriots were able to actually win the Super Bowl).

In the 2014 AFC Wildcard round of the NFL playoffs, Harbaugh’s Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Heinz Field in a dominant 30-17 victory, which was the Ravens’ first playoff victory against the Steelers in the history of the franchise. However, the next week, the Ravens lost 35-31  in the AFC Divisional round to the New England Patriots after the Ravens were unable to hold two separate 14-point leads.

NFL head coaching record:

Coaching tree—

NFL head coaches under whom Harbaugh has served:

• Ray Rhodes, Philadelphia Eagles (1998)
• Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles (1999–2008)

Assistant coaches under John Harbaugh who have become NFL head coaches:

• Rex Ryan, New York Jets (2009–2014), Buffalo Bills (2015-present)
• Hue Jackson, Oakland Raiders (2011)
• Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts (2012–present)
• Jim Caldwell, Detroit Lions (2014–present)
• Mike Pettine, Cleveland Browns (2014–present)
• Gary Kubiak, Denver Broncos (2015–present)