ExtremeRavens Posted 16 hours ago Posted 16 hours ago John Harbaugh stood before the podium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, wearing a navy blue suit and accented burgundy tie, introducing Giants fans to the personality and Harbaugh-isms that Ravens fans know well. He played all the hits. Harbaugh promised to attack his new job with “an enthusiasm unknown to mankind” — a long-standing catchphrase in the Harbaugh family. In his opening remarks, delivering something of a mission statement, he assured everything will be about “the team, the team, the team.” That’s another classic Harbaugh line. He thanked his dad, Jack, for instilling that one. The 63-year-old coach who spent 18 years in Baltimore, going 193-124 and winning a Super Bowl before he was fired earlier this month, sounded ready to embrace the opportunity in New York. Very little of the roughly 20-minute news conference was spent rehashing his time with the Ravens. Harbaugh extended a “profoouunnd” thank you to Ravens leadership, specifically owner Steve Bisciotti and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome as well as coaches and players. He did not mention general manager Eric DeCosta by name. Then Harbaugh turned the page to the Giants. In the wee hours of Jan. 14, shortly before midnight, news broke that the two parties were closing in on a deal to make Harbaugh the next head coach of, as he lovingly calls them, the “New York Football Giants.” It took three more days — which included a fancy dinner and all-day meetings to iron out chain of command restructuring — to get that five-year deal across the finish line. Harbaugh said there was never a question about taking a new job versus a year off. He wanted to get back in the ring with a team he saw genuine potential in. “I wanted this job,” Harbaugh said. “To be on the biggest stage in the biggest sport. I know the challenges. I know the expectations. I know the fans are hungry for a winner. We’re here with one mission: to earn the right to be called the world champions in New York.” The road diverged in front of him includes two paths. Each has already been laid, and one sounds much better than the other. Like Harbaugh, former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll enjoyed great success in Seattle, where he won a Super Bowl. This time last year, the Raiders hired him to bring a mark of stability to a listless organization. The 74-year-old Carroll won three games and was promptly fired after one season. Harbaugh would much prefer the other road, the won blazed by his mentor, Andy Reid. Harbaugh spent a decade as Reid’s special teams coordinator in Philadelphia before the Ravens hired him as a first-time head coach. Five years later, Reid was fired by the Eagles and quickly hired by the Kansas City Chiefs. Since then, he’s won three Super Bowls and appeared in two more. “We’ll sign up for that deal right now,” Harbaugh laughed, met with some applause. Those two have been in some level of communication during the less than two weeks Harbaugh was unemployed. Reid is a man of few words, his mentee said Tuesday. “His four words to me,” Harbaugh said, “were ‘change can be good.’” For Baltimore, the feeling was mutual. READER POLL: Should previous head coaching experience matter for Ravens? “We love John like a brother, and it was really the most difficult decision that we made, but we made it,” Bisciotti said last week, “We want the Ravens to succeed. I felt it was the right time to make the change. … I think we had run our course.” Bisciotti knew Harbaugh would be the “the most sought-after coach in years.” That fact, affirmed when Harbaugh became the first head coach off the board this cycle, alleviated Bisciotti’s worries about letting go of his longtime friend. On Tuesday, there were plenty of questions about the roster he’s inheriting, to which Harbaugh assured his confidence in their ability to be a playoff team by next year led by rising sophomore quarterback Jaxson Dart. Harbaugh told his brother and Los Angeles Chargers coach, Jim, to “breathe easy” now that they’re in different conferences. Backup quarterback Jameis Winston got a shoutout for his 2024 upset win over the Ravens. “It was a great game — for you,” Harbaugh said, pointing to the back of the room. He also indicated the interview process for hiring coordinators will begin as soon as Wednesday. The Giants will scour the league for candidates. That includes “people in Baltimore,” Harbaugh said, alluding to his former offensive coordinator Todd Monken and defensive coordinator Zach Orr. Both have reportedly been in talks with the Giants. If the YouTube chat section on the live stream of Harbaugh’s introductory news conference is any indication, the excitement in East Rutherford, New Jersey is palpable. Giants fans see a bright light at the end of this decade-plus-long tunnel, having won a single playoff game in 14 years. Harbaugh didn’t nail down one secret ingredient to his success in Baltimore or how that might translate up Interstate-95. “No two places are the same,” he said. But his relationships in New York and what he saw on tape and the conversations he had quickly convinced him the Giants, the “most iconic franchise in the biggest sport,” as he called them, were the right move for his next chapter. For Ravens fans eager to meet their new coach, seeing Harbaugh trade in purple and black for blue and red will take some getting used to. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.x.com. New York Giants coach John Harbaugh poses for a photo after being introduced during a news conference at the team's training facility on Tuesday. (Adam Hunger/AP) View the full article Quote
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