Did John Harbaugh ever get discouraged in more than 20 years as an assistant football coach?
"He never once cracked," said his father, Jack, admiration flooding his face. "He never once blinked."
Fortitude, an unwavering belief in a plan and in himself, a calm when others might panic - these are the traits players, coaches and family mention when asked why Harbaugh has succeeded. They helped him first become a head coach, then lead the Ravens to a surprise appearance in today's AFC Championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"What you see with John is who he is," said Cam Cameron, who hired Harbaugh as an assistant at Indiana University and is now his offensive coordinator. "He isn't afraid in any situation to be who he is, and I think that's why we all respond to him so well."
Harbaugh's parents wondered sometimes, given his insignificant playing career at Miami University of Ohio and his largely anonymous work as an assistant coach for six college and pro teams. Did he compare himself to his younger brother, Jim, of the All-American career at the University of Michigan, 14-year NFL career and near-instant ascent to a college head coaching job?
"At some point in time, he just had to say, 'Look, this is crazy. Why not me?' " Jack Harbaugh said last week at the Ravens training complex in Owings Mills.
But if Harbaugh had such doubts, he never showed them. His brother described him as a longtime rock for family and friends alike. "If I have a problem, I give John a call and see what he says," said Jim, Stanford's head coach. "He usually has the answer in 30 seconds."
Just don't ask Harbaugh, 46, to probe his soul. Even now, on the cusp of a championship game appearance that no one predicted, his veneer of calm never cracks.
"You feel really pleased for and proud of the people in the building - our players and our coaches and everyone else - that you have a chance to compete in a game like this," he said Monday when asked about his emotional state. "As a head coach, you feel like, 'You know what? We have a chance to do something and compete in a real special football game.' Other than that, it is the next football game up, and that's the one we're getting ready to play."
Such a response might elicit eye-rolls from some observers, who figure the rookie coach's guts must be roiling at the prospect of his first game on such a big stage.
But no, said his father, his brother and the players who know him. That's just Harbaugh.
