No family has risen to a higher profile in the current era of college and NFL football like the Harbaugh family has. Now, John and Jim Harbaugh are expanding their reach.
John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens announced the launch of the Harbaugh Coaching Academy Tuesday. The project is spearheaded by John but also joined by Jim, the Los Angeles Chargers head coach who won last year’s college football national championship with Michigan, as well as their father, longtime college football coach Jack Harbaugh, and their brother-in-law, former Marquette and Indiana college basketball coach Tom Crean.
The academy is a non-profit online resource center that offers a plethora of coaching tools and tips for instructors of all levels,” including “youth, high school and college coaches” as well as “schoolteachers, gym instructors, mentors and parents.”
“The Harbaugh Coaching Academy has truly been in development since we were kids,” John Harbaugh said in a statement. “HCA was born of thousands of coaching lessons learned over the years. It’s a culmination of decades of coaching experience, working with coaches and leaders committed to empowering other coaches who aim to have a greater impact on youth performance and well-being — regardless of the sport.”
The HCA will feature numerous pieces of free video content on its website, HarbaughCoachingAcademy.org, from notable NFL and college football coaches and some current NFL players, most with ties to the Harbaughs. The videos include a number of interviews with some of football’s biggest names in coaching, including Andy Reid, Sean McVay, Tony Dungy and Dick Vermeil. It also showcases behind-the-scenes videos from inside the Ravens locker room that have never been publicly shown before.
Other topics include inspirational speeches, and mental health coaching and leadership training. Themes include “Non-Confrontational Confrontation,” “Safety in Football,” “How to Build Mental Toughness in Young Athletes,” “Building a Staff.” Six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick is also a featured speaker, and spoke at the academy’s launch panel alongside John and Jack Harbaugh at the Ravens’ facility Tuesday. (Jim also briefly joined via zoom from the Chargers’ facility on the other side of the country.)
“There’s nothing quite like HCA out there to support and inspire today’s coaches to be their best,” John said. “Our goal is to share the wisdom and experiences of exceptional coaches and leaders with those who want to learn from them. Collectively, we can reach and empower more people for good than we could on our own.”
John is entering his 17th year as Baltimore’s head coach, having won a Super Bowl with the team in 2012. His brother Jim, who John won the Super Bowl against that year when Jim was coaching the San Francisco 49ers, was recently hired by the Chargers after his college football national title triumph with his alma mater, Michigan, last season.
“I’m proud to work alongside my family on the Harbaugh Coaching Academy,” Jim stated. “I’m delighted we can share what we’ve learned with other coaches, of all levels, to help them develop and mentor young athletes.”
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