Super Bowl Coaches

The Super Bowl is where NFL players get to take their game to the biggest stage and showcase it to everyone. While players could set records in the regular season, it means nothing if they don’t produce in the big game. It’s also a chance for players to make fans forget about a mediocre season. Players’ careers are sometimes judged on whether or not they have won a Super Bowl, and how they perform in that game.

What goes unnoticed many times is the man in charge of the players. NFL coaches are sometimes forgotten during the game.  Their preparation and decision making is one of the most important factors in who wins. While they can’t win a MVP or make the game winning field goal, they are the ones responsible for putting their players in the right positions to succeed. When the team loses the coach is the one who gets all the blame, and when the team wins the coach never seems to get enough credit.

Super Bowl XLVII features one of the most anticipated coaching match-ups of all-time. That’s because it will be the first time in Super Bowl history that a pair of brothers will square off against one another. Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers are set to take on John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, February 3rd.

Older brother John’s Ravens got the best of the 49ers in their only previous meeting. They beat the 49ers 16-6 at home on November 24th, 2011 in a defensive battle. John served under Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles as the special-teams coach for nine years before becoming their defensive backs coach in 2007. He was given the head coaching job in Baltimore a year later in 2008. John has taken the Ravens to the playoffs each season, including three AFC Championship appearances.

While John has made his name as a coach, Jim actually made his name as a player back in the day. He was the famous quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts, where he took them to an AFC Championship Game. He also made a Pro Bowl. Jim also made a name for himself in the college ranks as he took the Stanford Cardinal to a BCS Bowl. He took over the head coaching job in San Francisco in 2011, leading the 49ers to back-to-back NFC Championships in his first two seasons.

One thing is certain headinging into this one. The entire Harbaugh family has a lot to be proud of, especially the father of Jim and John. Jack Harbaugh paved the way for his sons while coaching at Western Michigan and Western Kentucky. He took the Hilltoppers to three 10-win seasons, including the NCAA Division I-AA National Football Championship in 2002. Both John and Jim preach many of the same coaching philosophies they learned from their father.

About the Author: Jack Jones has been ranked in the Top-5 on the Overall Leaderboard for almost all of 2012 here at Betfirms. He has climbed as high as No. 2 while competing against roughly 80 of the best handicappers in the world. He finished as the No. 6 Ranked Basketball Handicapper from 2011-12, which combines pro and college hoops. His $1,000/game basketball players cashed in $22,310 last season. Head on over to Jack's premium pick page to see what he has in store for tonight!