Ravens' John Harbaugh Shows Brother Respect After Chargers Win

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh got the better of his brother once again.

Nov 25, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh (left) shakes hands with brother and Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh after the game at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

More of than not it seems, it pays to be the older brother.

Just ask Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, who is now 3-0 against his younger brother in Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh. Monday night's game at SoFi Stadium marked the brother's first head-to-head matchup since Super Bowl XLVII nearly 12 years ago, yet the end result was the same.

The two brothers may have put their emotions aside during the game, but after the clock hit zero, the two shared a heartfelt moment at midfield.

"I just told [Jim], 'You're a great coach, and you have a great team, and I love you,'" John Harbaugh said postgame. "And he said, 'I love you and congratulations.' It was good. Yes."

Indeed, while Jim Harbaugh may have come up short against his brother again, his work in just his first season with the Chargers is still nothing short of exceptional. L.A. essentially started over following a 5-12 record last season, and luring Jim Harbaugh back to the NFL from Michgan was by far their biggest move in an offseason full of them. Now, he has them firmly in the playoff picture with a drastically different roster, and could even be in the Coach of the Year conversation.

Jim Harbaugh's efforts are certainly not lost on his older brother. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"[There are] huge battles every week in this league, and going against a team that is this well-coached, by all of their coaches and by my brother, Jim – the best coach in the National Football League – what he's done with that team and how hard they play, and what they did, hats off to them, because they're going to win a lot more football games this year, and they're going to be a major factor in the playoffs," John Harbaugh said.

For now, John Harbaugh holds onto the bragging rights in this sibling rivalry, and depending on how the standings shake out, could for a while to come. When the brothers meet again, though, they're certainly going to give each other their best shot once more.

"[It's] what I just said, because Jim is a believer in the players, and he understands it," John Harbaugh said." You build teams around players' strengths, and you build teams around players that love football and players that want to work hard and want to play hard, and they want to come up into the office, and they want to be a part of a team and be a part of something bigger than themselves, and he just leans into that and loves into that every single day with his guys. I do believe that's why they respond to him the way they do."

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