SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jim Harbaugh has a college national championship, but no Super Bowl ring. John Harbaugh has a Super Bowl ring, but not a college ring.
Jay Harbaugh has both. And he’s going for another Super Bowl ring this week at age 36.
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Jay Harbaugh, Jim’s son and John’s nephew, has done pretty well for himself at a young age. He’s the Seattle Seahawks’ special teams coordinator. That unit had a big say in the Seahawks advancing to Super Bowl LX; Seattle ranked second among NFL teams in special teams DVOA this season.
Doors have opened for Harbaugh because of his family. He was an offensive quality control coach for the 2012 Baltimore Ravens, who won a Super Bowl, at age 23. That probably doesn’t happen if Uncle John isn’t the head coach in Baltimore. He spent nine seasons on Michigan’s staff, and was special teams coordinator and safeties coach under his dad when the Wolverines won a national title.
There’s the flip side of those opportunities. There’s no way, in the football world, that Jay Harbaugh can escape his last name. He’s the son and nephew of two of the most famous and successful coaches in the football world. That has allowed for some great opportunities at a young age, but it also can be challenging to live up to that.
However, Jay Harbaugh doesn’t see the downside.
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“It’s a blessing to have things expected of you,” Harbaugh said. “Not everybody has that as a coach. It’s one of the great gifts of coaching, to look at somebody and tell them exactly what you can see them being and what they’re capable of and give them the tools to do that. In my own life to have people look and have expectations of being something, that’s a great thing. It comes with some pressure and scrutiny, but it’s a good thing. I’m grateful for it.”
Seahawks special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh is in his second Super Bowl as a coach. (Photo by Jane Gershovich/Getty Images)
(Jane Gershovich via Getty Images)
Growing up Harbaugh
As you’d imagine, when the Harbaugh family gets together, the subject eventually comes back to the same thing.
“We are capable of talking about other things,” Jay Harbaugh said. “But things generally tend to gravitate back towards football or coaching or sports in general.”
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When you grow up as the son of Jim Harbaugh — a Heisman finalist at Michigan, a 14-year NFL quarterback and then a successful head coach over the past 22 seasons in college and the pros — football is part of your life. And it’s hard to escape it.
“When I was younger I didn’t want to play quarterback because I didn’t want to be compared to my dad,” Jay Harbaugh said. “So I became a coach instead.”
Jay Harbaugh said he wanted to be a coach from a young age, but then went through a phase early in his teenage years in which he was seeking another path.
“I think I wanted to be an FBI agent or something. I would have been horrible at it,” Jay Harbaugh said. “I think I just wanted to see what else I could do.”
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Jay Harbaugh remembers being a junior in high school when he was at an event with his grandfather Jack, another Harbaugh legend who spent more than 40 years coaching including 14 as Western Kentucky’s head coach.
“Person after person came up and greeted him and they’re telling stories and laughing,” Harbaugh said. “They were people he probably didn’t even remember. Seeing this impact and how rich his life was, I remember having this feeling of, yeah, I want that.”
Jay Harbaugh back in a Super Bowl
The Harbaughs have made coaching a family matter, and it is impressive that three members of the family have prominent coaching jobs in the NFL.
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“Miss him. Miss Jay, miss [Jay’s children] Jacob and Norma and [Jay’s wife] Brhitney, but very proud,” Jim Harbaugh said before a 2024 preseason game between the Jim’s Chargers and the Seahawks. “Very proud of Jay and what he’s accomplished, what he’s accomplishing now.”
Jay Harbaugh has been an asset for the Seahawks. Seattle has been strong on special teams all season. A key punt return touchdown by Rashid Shaheed against the Rams in Week 16 helped the Seahawks in a historic comeback win that was a huge step in them winning the NFC West, getting the NFC’s No. 1 seed and using that as a springboard to the Super Bowl.
“Jay is one of the best football coaches I’ve ever been around,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said. “The mentality he has on a day-to-day basis is what we love from our coaches. Chasing edges, elegant simplicity, relationships and connecting with his players. Love Jay, he’s a great coach.”
Many years ago, John Harbaugh had been a special teams coordinator for most of his career as an assistant when the Ravens hired him as a head coach. He had 18 successful seasons there, and was just hired to be the New York Giants’ head coach. Jay Harbaugh is still relatively early in his coaching career, and it’s possible at some point he joins his father and uncle as a head coach in the NFL.
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“He’s a special teams whiz. He knows everything there is. Self scout, he’s looking at our film and he’s telling us ‘Look out for this, they’re going to pick up on this.,’” Seahawks fullback Robbie Ouzts said. “Just his knowledge of the game and how he interacts with players, you can tell he grew up in it.”
This week isn’t about Harbaugh’s future in coaching, but trying to get his special teams ready for Super Bowl LX and perhaps making another big play to shift the momentum of the game. In many ways, he has been building to this moment most of his life.
“I’ll always be grateful because my parents were like ‘Do whatever you’re passionate about and what you’re interested in,’” Jay Harbaugh said. “There was never any, ‘Hey you need to be in football.’
“As time passed, I realized that’s where my passion was and I was able to come by it naturally.”
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