Ravens Coach Gives Tough Thoughts on Brother's NFL Return

John Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens will do battle with Jim Harbaugh's Los Angeles Chargers later this year.

Aug 7, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh (left) shakes hands with Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (right) after the game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports / Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

It may not seem like it at face value, but the Baltimore Ravens' Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Chargers may be one of the most exciting matchups of the season. After all, what makes a matchup between the AFC's No. 1 seed and a bottom-five team last year so exciting?

The answer to that question lies in the coaching matchup. Ravens coach John Harbaugh will face off against his younger brother Jim, who is making his return to the NFL after nine seasons and a national championship at Michigan. This will be the first matchup between the brothers since Super Bowl XLVII, when John's Ravens defeated Jim's San Francisco 49ers 34-31.

During an appearance on Baltimore's "The Lounge" podcast, John shed light on what this game means to both him and his brother.

"It's so meaningful," John said. "We both root for each other, we both have each other's back all the time, and yet we're competing against each other. And yeah, there is a pride part of it, you do want to win ... These things live on. These are real-life moments that, you know, there's a winner and a loser in some of these games like that, and you can kind of never forget these things.

"It's not so much who's going to have 'bragging rights' — that kind of understates how it really works."

John then admitted to having mixed feelings on his brother's NFL return. While he will be rooting for Jim the majority of the time, all bets are off when they play each other.

"I want him to be in the playoffs, I want them to be successful, for sure, he's my brother," John said. "And if we play him, I want to win ... If for some reason, whenever it happens, if they're in the Super Bowl, I'm rooting for them to be in the Super Bowl. I'll be rooting for him just like in [Michigan's] national championship game, all-in for them to win that game.

"But in that championship game, if we're playing them in that championship game, it's going to be just like the [2013] Super Bowl. And it's hard, it's tough. It's hard to lose that game, it's even hard to win that game. Because you go shake hands — I think there's some clips coming back out about that whole thing — that was a tough moment. That was a tough moment. It's not all joy when it's your brother on the other side of that deal."

The Ravens will travel to face the Chargers on Nov. 25, just three days before Thanksgiving. There's no better time for a family reunion then that.

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