John Harbaugh - Athletic Alumni 2016

John Harbaugh, Pioneer ‘80, is widely respected as one of the best head coaches in the NFL. He has led the Baltimore Ravens to 87 wins (including playoffs), second-most in the NFL over that span. His 10 playoff wins are the most by any head coach in the league since 2008, when he began coaching Baltimore.

As recently as this February, John was receiving accolades for his coaching and leadership from none other than this year’s winning Super Bowl coach, Gary Kubiak. The year previous, Kubiak was the offensive coordinator on John Harbaugh’s Ravens staff. Immediately after the big game, Kubiak thanked John for a life-changing year with the Ravens, during which time Kubiak says he got a new perspective on coaching, learning especially how to build a team and team unity from John; those lessons were critical to Kubiak in leading his Denver Broncos to the 2016 NFL championship.

A Super Bowl-winning coach himself in 2012, John traces his football career back to Ann Arbor and Pioneer High School. John was a member of the Pioneer football team from 1977 to 1979. Primarily a defensive back, John was an outstanding player and teammate. John won two letters in football here before going on to play at the Miami University (Ohio), and then launching his coaching career.

John took on six other collegiate and NFL coaching positions before taking the Ravens head coaching job. John so impressed the Baltimore Ravens ownership in his interviews that they selected him to be their next head coach, entrusting him with the head coach position without him first having taken the common path up from a coordinator’s position.

Chuck Ritter, John’s Pioneer football coach, has stayed in contact with John and proudly reports that John has told him that he still uses some of the plays and warm-up drills and exercises he learned at Pioneer.

John has used his position and leadership for good far beyond the gridiron through many charitable and community activities. Perhaps most meaningfully, in spring 2015, he and 55 other members of the Ravens team went into the heart of the Baltimore community a few days after protests of a police shooting erupted into violent civil unrest. John and team members met with high school students and other members of the community, helping to open a dialogue and restore a calmer atmosphere to a troubled city. As John has described it, “it was one of the best days of my life.”

And we hope this is a good day for him, too. Today, he becomes a member of the Ann Arbor Pioneer Athletics Hall of Fame. Welcome, John.