Jay Harbaugh Looking To Forge His Own Identity With Seahawks
The Harbaugh brothers have formed quite the football legacy for themselves, with both excelling as coaches.
John Harbaugh has been coaching the Baltimore Ravens since 2008 and won a Super Bowl XLVII title. Meanwhile, his younger brother Jim Harbaugh led the Michigan Wolverines to a national championship before making his triumphant return to the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers this offseason.
Unbeknownst to many, though, there is now a third member of the Harbaugh family the NFL. Jay Harbaugh, son of Jim and nephew of John, just recently joined the Seattle Seahawks as a special teams coordinator under new coach Mike Macdonald, whom he previously coached alongside at Michigan.
In taking the Seahawks job, Jay Harbaugh is taking a big leap of faith. Every full-time coaching job he has had has been under either his father or his uncle, coaching with the Wolverines since 2015 and the Ravens from 2012-2014. His only job not coaching under a family member came as a student assistant at Oregon State from 2008-2011.
While he had the chance to return to Michigan under new coach Sherrone Moore, Jay decided it was time to branch out to forge his own path.
“Working with my dad at Michigan was probably the best nine years of my life and that was something that was really special to me and an opportunity that not everybody gets that chance to do what they love with a mom or a dad or an uncle or whatever it might be,’’ Jay said, per The Seattle Times. “That’s really special, and I’m really thankful for that chance that I had.
“It was kind of the thing where I would have never have wanted to go my own way unless it really made sense, and all of the ways I kind of talked about earlier with this franchise, the direction I know that Mike is going to take it, all of the fantastic people in the front office being so proven and excellent at what they do. It just kind of made sense.’’
Despite his family legacy, Jay chose to go into coaching on his own volition, rather than being forced into the field. That freedom has done wonders for him, and being able to choose his path has only increased his passion for the game.
“Seeing my dad and my grandpa and how rich their lives were, just relationship-wise, that was something that I realized, ‘Hey, I really want that.’ That looks like a great way to live and was able to get a great start with coach [Mike] Riley at Oregon State [from 2008-11], and then Baltimore after that. It’s been great. But having that space to be able to come to it on my own is something I’m very thankful for.”
