{"id":250401,"date":"2025-07-31T10:27:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T10:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/250401\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T10:27:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T10:27:13","slug":"hall-of-fame-memories-harbaugh-family-tales-from-cradle-of-coaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/250401\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall of Fame memories: Harbaugh family tales from ‘Cradle of Coaches’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CANTON, Ohio\u00a0\u2014\u00a0This town is deeply meaningful to the Harbaugh family<\/a>, and not just because Jim Harbaugh<\/a> will coach the Chargers<\/a> in the Hall of Fame game on Thursday night, seven years after brother John Harbaugh<\/a> did the same with the Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n

But the Harbaugh legacy in Canton predates the Pro Football Hall of Fame<\/a>, which opened its doors in 1963.<\/p>\n

This is where newlywed Jack Harbaugh<\/a> got his coaching start in 1961, after his playing career at Bowling Green State University, and three days at Buffalo Bills training camp, had come to an end.<\/p>\n

The Ohio River Valley is known as the \u201cCradle of Coaches,\u201d and for good reason. It produced such coaching legends as Paul Brown<\/a>, Don Shula<\/a>, Chuck Noll<\/a>, Bo Schembechler<\/a>, Lou Holtz<\/a> and Nick Saban<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The region also birthed the career of one Jack Harbaugh, storyteller supreme, whose initial foray into coaching was more of a crash course.<\/p>\n

Actually, Harbaugh didn\u2019t see the crash, but he heard the commotion.<\/p>\n

The incident happened during summer two-a-day practices for Canton McKinley High. Harbaugh, a junior high coach, was conscripted to work with the varsity team, and sometimes that was little more than babysitting. Between practices one day, a rambunctious group of players had commandeered a trailer and rode it down a hill behind Fawcett Stadium. With a tremendous clatter, the makeshift stagecoach got the speed wobbles like a wonky grocery cart and flipped over on a turn, ejecting its rowdy riders.<\/p>\n

No one was seriously hurt, but there was a lot of panic, especially among Harbaugh and the other young coaches who were in charge while the older coaches had left for their favorite lunch spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told us, \u2018We gave you one job! One job!\u2019\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cI went home that night and told [wife] Jackie, \u2018Don\u2019t answer the phone. It could be [coach] Pete Ankney firing me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The equipment cart was unhinged. Ankney was not. He clearly saw the coaching potential in Harbaugh, who had to work his way up from the ground floor.<\/p>\n

That meant starting with junior high players, who at times could be unruly beyond their years.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n

Jack Harbaugh talks about the time he got a high school coaching job only to realize the head coach wanted him to suit up and play quarterback in team scrimmages.<\/p>\n

There was a fullback who was ruled ineligible before the first game when coaches learned he was significantly older than his teammates. Harbaugh instructed him to return his full uniform. The player brought everything back but his school-issued cleats, so the coach sent him back for those.<\/p>\n

The aged-out kid returned sometime later and stood on a bridge near practice. He held out his cleats and dangled them over a creek, shouting to Harbaugh that if he wanted them he\u2019d have to swim for them. Kerplunk \u2014 he dropped them into the water.<\/p>\n

Harbaugh hopped a fence and gave chase, but pulled up when the wayward wild child started swinging a metal dog chain over his head like a deranged cowboy, the whip inching ever closer to the coach\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

The standoff lasted a few moments until the kid backed into a curb and fell over, allowing Harbaugh a chance to pounce on him and \u2014 while showing mercy to the kid \u2014 confiscate the chain. Jack kept that chain in a jar for decades to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember seeing that chain, and I\u2019ve heard the story probably a hundred times,\u201d Jim Harbaugh said. \u201cI\u2019m just really proud of my dad for the way he handled that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John <\/p>\n

John Harbaugh, left, Jim Harbaugh, center, and Jack Harbaugh chat before a game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers in November 2011.<\/p>\n

(Nick Wass \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Then there was the player \u2014 let\u2019s call him \u201cFrank\u201d \u2014 who couldn\u2019t stop swearing on the field. Jack Harbaugh warned him on multiple occasions, telling him he wouldn\u2019t play unless he toned down his language. That didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe lets out a high-velocity word, and I say, \u2018That\u2019s it, you\u2019re not playing,\u2019\u201d said Harbaugh, who even 60 years later asked that the kid\u2019s actual name be kept in confidence.<\/p>\n

When Harbaugh turned his back, foul-mouthed Frank swung his helmet and clocked the coach over the top of the head. That staggered Harbaugh, who showed restraint in grabbing the player by the shoulder pads and growling, \u201cYou\u2019re done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank was a good player and a popular one, and the next day, only seven kids showed up to practice. The one-day boycott worked for the day, as the coach didn\u2019t have enough bodies to run drills. But a grateful Harbaugh did tell the seven players who showed, \u201cI\u2019ll never forget you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later, while coaching at Bowling Green, Harbaugh ran into one of those unforgettable seven. To his sheepish embarrassment, the coach indeed forgot him and had to be reintroduced.<\/p>\n

Harbaugh remembered him as a pudgy, 5-foot-7 eighth grader. The youngster had transformed into a sculpted superhero at 6-3 and 230 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a reminder to me that you don\u2019t forget players,\u201d the coach said. \u201cEspecially those players that you\u2019ve brought in and believe in you and trust in you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh talks about the life lessons he learned from his father and mother.<\/p>\n

Sometimes junior high kids were… well, just kids.<\/p>\n

Harbaugh recalls one timid youngster who never made it onto the field. In the season finale, he got his chance but declined to take it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe goes, \u2018Coach I can\u2019t go in,\u2019\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cI asked him why not and he said, \u2018One, I\u2019ve got a headache. And two, I\u2019ve got to pee.\u2019 I told him, \u2018Maybe you\u2019d just better stay here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Harbaugh, he got his big break at the end of the Canton McKinley season when the varsity coach asked him to help the players prepare for the monumental matchup against powerhouse Massillon.<\/p>\n

When the irrepressibly enthusiastic Harbaugh showed up to coach, he was handed a uniform. He would be playing scout quarterback for the week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey kicked the living snot out of me,\u201d he recalled with a laugh. \u201cFour days of no mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jackie <\/p>\n

Jackie and Jack Harbaugh, parents of Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh and Ravens coach John Harbaugh.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Harbaugh family)<\/p>\n

Harbaugh was still feeling the effects of those grueling practices the week after the Canton McKinley-Massillon game \u2014 which Massillon won, 7-6 \u2014 when he and Jackie were married the following weekend.<\/p>\n

And the Harbaugh kids would hear the story for decades to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir marriage, their coaching career, the ups and downs, the two of them have been the rock in every story,\u201d Jim Harbaugh said of his parents. \u201cIt was just Ward and June Cleaver doing the right thing time after time. You just feel blessed and as good as you can feel to have parents like Jack and Jackie Harbaugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canton isn\u2019t just a finish line. It\u2019s a starting gate too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CANTON, Ohio\u00a0\u2014\u00a0This town is deeply meaningful to the Harbaugh family, and not just because Jim Harbaugh will coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[49845,49851,49849,49850,241,1885,49847,21,7,3856,1436,49848,1014,262,2444,2443,49846,6,188,9735,678,1320],"class_list":{"0":"post-250401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-aged-out-kid","9":"tag-canton-mckinley-high","10":"tag-canton-memory","11":"tag-chain","12":"tag-chargers","13":"tag-coach","14":"tag-cradle","15":"tag-day","16":"tag-football","17":"tag-frank","18":"tag-harbaugh","19":"tag-harbaugh-family-tale","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","22":"tag-losangeles","23":"tag-losangeleschargers","24":"tag-newlywed-jack-harbaugh","25":"tag-nfl","26":"tag-player","27":"tag-practice","28":"tag-story","29":"tag-year"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}