John Harbaugh: Monday Press Conference (1/22)

Welcome into the Ravens Press Pass podcast. It is Monday, January twenty second, and the Ravens are getting ready to host the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs. As the team prepares for that game, we had a chance to hear from head coach John Harbaugh during his Monday afternoon press conference.

Okay, appreciate everybody being here. We are preparing for the Chiefs first conference championship game since nineteen seventy one.

I've been told and matter of fact, Jerry Sandusky told me that right after the game, So it was pretty cool to hear that from Jerry. I think he was probably about ten years old when that happened. He said his dad was the on line coach. But we're excited about it. We're looking forward to it. It's a huge challenge playing a great football team, very talented, very well coached, know how to win. They've been in these situations many times.

With Mark and Andrews, would do you feel he was close to any point?

And is the expectation for him to play this week?

Yeah, we'll just see how he goes. We're looking forward to it.

He practiced last week and I'm sure he'll practice again this week and if he's ready to play, he'll play.

Mahomes four times are past five or six years, But Howard is still a game plan for a quarterback. You can make new spontaneous plays sort of, you know, with his arm in his legs.

No question.

I mean you got to factor it in the fact that he extends plays, he buys time, he buys time to run, sometimes buys time to throw. He's just a really lousive guy. You'll see me in space. Sometimes you'll make guys miss and all that. So you know, it's just Patrick Mahomes. He's unique, plays his own brand of football been very successful. We'll just have to study him and do our best to try to keep him under wraps.

Hey, coach, how much have you been angled or how much are you going to harken back on your AFC Championship experience.

You've obviously had a win after a loss in New England, and you talk about the Chiefs and their straight here. But how much are you able to go back and maybe use some of that as experience for.

Current players to that? You know, I don't think it really applies too much. I mean, it's it's a new time, you know, and this is this game. It just it's us.

It's this team against that team at this time, and that's focused on We've got to keep it simple.

Just get ready to play the game.

M's like going up against Andy in a game of this magnitude through your relationship with him.

Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously it's a big deal in terms of the relationship that goes back a long, long, long way, and utmost respect for Andy, a most appreciation for what he's accomplished as a coach. We were together for ten years, you know, the first ten years there in Philly, and uh uh, you know, we were in a lot of championship games, you know, a lot of playoff games, and it was it was I learned so much, you know, I just learned so much as a coach and as a person.

Uh.

Then competing against him now all these years has been really challenging. I mean, Andy's a great coach, He's got a great staff. You name all the guys, Tom Melvin, Dave, Tobe, all the guys that have come through there that that we knew from from the Eagles. Uh, it's just a it's just a very talented group of people. And have the utmost respect for him.

John, do you remember the first time that he met with Andy and what are maybe some of those lessons principles? What happened that that you took with you?

I guess, yeah, well I was trying to I was hoping to be retained. Yeah, I know that, and that he was coming in. I was one year with Ray Rhodes. Ray Rhoades brought me into the National Football League. Couldn't have been, couldn't have been. Can't be more grateful. I mean, Ray Rose is great to be around for a year or two and phrase out there listen, just thank you very much. I'm always appreciative of what I learned from Ray.

So that was good.

Of him and hope he hope, he hope he's glad he did, you know, looking back on it. But one of the things I tell his story a lot. But one of the things with Andy, he had this three by five card behind his desk on his bolting board. Uh uh, and it just said, don't judge, don't judge. And I got the nerve to ask him about it one time and he just basically, you know, it's kind of a biblical principle, you know, and take people where they're at, assume the best, you know, try to communicate

John. You're you're an adopted at Baltimore.

And at this point, I mean, what was your sense of kind of what it meant to the people in the stadium to be there, for them to get on Saturday and then literally means to you know, host the game of this magnitude on Sunday.

Yeah, it seemed like it meant a lot, I'll tell you the fans it was meaningful. Even driving out of the stadium, there's still people everywhere, lined around everywhere, and of course I rolled my root window down, you know, and kind of you know, we yelled and yelled go Ravens and stuff like that. It was it was really fun. Uh, it was loud, it was it was emotional. You could

What were you up to in nineteen seventy one?

Was I doing in nineteen seventy one?

Yeah, you know where we were. We were at Iowa.

My dad just took a job at the University of Iowa to coaches secondary.

Yeah. That's when we lived in that little house on Taller in Court. And we didn't have a car. Half the time.

Sometimes we got a car, sometimes we didn't, you know. So when we had a car, we got a ride to school.

We didn't have a car. We were walking. You know.

That's when Dad would say, who's got it better than us? We'd say everybody with a car.

You know, said, no, you don't understand the value of walking.

Yeah, nobody's got it better than you.

You weren't watching the ANC Championship game in Baltimore.

No, no, no, I do remember the field goal to the Super Bowl. Jim O'Brien. Right, I saw that. Remember that kick. I can remember that kick nine.

Years old, absolutely straight ahead, right boom, A.

Short kick as that a car? Yeah? Sorry, go ahead.

No, I was to say.

This group of guys obviously seemed to keep it so loose despite the high pressure situations. How much can you put towards how much fun you've had being around this particular group in the chemistry surround them.

Yeah, No, it's been a lot of fun. I love being around these guys.

It's it's just every day, you know, you like coming to work every day, you know, you like driving in and be bopping. I'm usually here before most of them, so I see him coming in.

Most of the guys.

Uh, but uh, they're they're fun to be around. I mean it's just they come in, they're full of energy. They're they're determined. They want to they want to prepare, they want to practice, they want to lift weights, they want to they want to get the game plan. They like being around one another when we go to practice. The energy is high. Uh yeah, there's a lot of last. But there's also a lot of a lot of determination, you know, and a lot of focus, a lot of

Expect more Nunford to practices and how is he progressing? And to go along with that, how please have you been with the way Derby is set up? I mean how to pass break about them in the second.

Play the game really set no doubt.

I mean, Ronald Darby's played outstanding, Brandon Stevens has put outstanding, Arthur Marlette has played outstanding. Uh Rock has played outstanding. All those guys have stepped up and played very good. The coverage has been out This has been great. Uh and and with Marlon, I promise you if Marlon can go, he will. If he can practice, he will. I think you'll see it as the week goes on. Based on how much he practices, you probably get a pretty good

Carries in the game. How much does he help your coaches def see him in the game and the.

Raves game plan moving for Yeah, I think it does. I mean he looked good, right, I mean I thought he looked really good out there. Dalvin did and ran hard and you know, showed showed his skill set off and got us those yards the end of the game along with Justice too, and to help us, you know.

Seal it away.

So it's just it's one more really good player whose hands we can put the ball into and and and that's a good thing.

And you talk back of the game very briefly about Justice Hill and I know early year they were pumbling on the mesh pointing problems between him and Lamar Jackson. And hasn't happened for a long time.

But in the last same month or so, how two months, how have you seen Justice Hill kind of.

Develop over the season, right, Well, I mean I've told him, I just think he's suit supremely talented player, but his heart's even bigger, you know. And this guy he runs so hard and his acceleration in his burst is just is right up there at the top of the league. I mean, he gets the ball north, He's got really good vision, catches the ball like pass protects well rounded back. I mean, I just I couldn't say enough about him. I think he's been a difference maker for us.

Lamar's talked a lot about and you as well, about him being locked in, locked in. You've heard a lot this year. I'm just curious, like, from your perspective as coaching, what does that mean to you And is there a particular example that maybe stands out.

To what that meaning is.

Yeah, I don't think it's real complicated. I mean, you come to work, and you and you come to work to go to work, you know, and and uh and get get locked in on what what your responsibilities are and what your job is and and make sure you're prepared. And then even as a football player, on the specific thing you know, when you line up, you lock in, you lock in on your on your job, your responsibility, your eyes, your feet, your hands, uh, the communication of

I made of Lamar's halftime speech. Have you seen that side of him before, especially in years of previous.

Yeah, I mean yeah, I mean yeah, I've seen it plenty of times. He's uh, Lamar's determined. I I don't know, I don't know, Like it wasn't like some crazy thing, you know. I mean I saw the way it was described. It wasn't like that.

You know.

He was he was just he was locked in. He was determined, and he kind of said some things and so let's go. You know, this is this is not the way it needs to be played, and we're better than that and let's go take care of business. Is basically what he said. So I think someone said it was profanity laced or something, you know.

Uh, there was a lot of cursing.

Here he said. He said some things I can't repeat. Yeah, but it wasn't.

It was. I don't think it's like you're imagining it, honestly. I mean I remember it that way, and I would have I think I would, you know, because he's not He's just not that kind of guy.

He doesn't really talk like that. But no, it was, it was. It was. It was great. You know, it's good. It wasn't it was. It was. It was.

I don't think it's a big story. I think the way he plays a big story that's kind of I think that's even big story. But Lamar is a leader. I mean Lamar is a leader from the beginning to the end. And the way he plays what he says, guys listening to him, the way he runs the offense, I mean, he's just a he's an A plus plus leader.

There will be a lot to talk about the Holmes and Kelsey, and rightly so, but how difficult. Does the checko now in their run game just to kind of stop all kind of challenges do they present.

On the ground.

Yeah, they're run the ball really well.

They'll come out with you know, three or four kind of game plan runs certain ways. Nothing nothing that you haven't seen before, but they dial in on something that they try to exploit. And then number ten, Jecko man, guy's coming downhill. You know, he's he's hitting it that way all out. You know, he's two hundred and twenty

What makes Mahomes so tough to bring down in the pocket, He's one of the best at, like, you know, avoiding pressures that turn into sacks. And I guess related to that house significant Kansas City in two D can't he can't make it. I guess he left.

He left the gain yesterday with the pack injury. Yeah, he just got a great pocket presence.

You know.

I think he sees the field and he sees he feels the pocket. You know, he must have you know, antenna that he just kind of senses all that. Like your car, you know, it's got all the centers, it starts beeping when guys get close. It must be that way for him because he kind of senses the pressure and he's able to just move around and get away but keep his eyes down field, slip out all those kind of things.

Just what he does.

Everybody that watches football knows it. That's just it's his. It's one of his gifts, you know. So we're gonna have to really study it be good at defending it. I do like our guys chances. We've got a lot of really good athletes. A lot of guys play hard. So we'll just try to make as hard on him as we can. As far as who's playing for them or not. That's just kind of is what it is.

A second head coach in NFL history to make conference championship appearances after a ten year gap. The only other one was dick er Meal and that was because he wasn't coaching.

For fifteen years.

Can you just talk about.

The challenges that you faced and you know, reconstructing a team and working with everybody here to.

Get back here.

Yeah, not really thinking about that. It's like the last thing on my mind right now.

CoA.

John wanted to go back to your post game prestoda the other day. You started it off with the scripture and just thinking about how you've been talking throughout the season. You reference faith and spirituality here and there. We see praying with the players, they talk openly about their faith.

Why is it for you as a coach?

Why has it been so important to keep faith as a bad break of this team's identity?

Right?

Well, one thing that it's important here is that we've always been this way, is uh, is that everybody expresses who they are and can be who they are, you know, freely and without apology, you know. And uh, we always like to be our best self, you know. We kind of encourage that to one another and sometimes we fall short, but we're always.

Striving for that.

We encourage each other to strive for that, you know, and try to try to support each other as much as we can. I need as much support as everybody else does, you know. And so we're really in a partnership here at players and coaches, uh and and and scouts and everybody in the organization, you know, are in a partnership. And uh and that's that's the basic part of it. So if faith is a part of who you are and part of your life, ah, then it's

It, you know, they're welcome.

And you know, this is always some good dialogue that way, because we've got some really smart guys and stuff. But you know, that's that's the that's the way we're formulated.

It's being smart guys and people expressing themselves. Your defense has obviously been outstanding this year. When you think back to the to Mike's early years and you sort of tapping and what stood out to you most about him that that kind of gave you that belief and confidence in him.

Yeah, Mike's Mike's just the I think, real genuine person. You know, a lot of great coaches on the staff, they all kind of share this this particular trait. But you know, he was here young. You know, he's just out of college, and uh, he was very eager and very smart, and very motivated and hard work king and all those kinds of things, and you could just tell, you know, he had all those kind of traits. I

Been right in the middle of all that.

So it just is with a smart guy like that, he works hard like that, who's in that kind of a circumstance. You know, that's that's the result, I think is what you see is he's just got a really good feel for it, you know, for the he's got a feel for the game itself, but he's also got a great feel for applying the principles that he's he's he's been a part of developing actually over the last nine or ten years.

And you know, it's hard.

Guy's got a great staff around him. I mean, you know, it's never one person. All those guys on defense are great coaches. I'm telling you, it's a really good staff. They work well together, they collaborate, they listen to one another. Uh they they they're they're they communicate well with each other and the players.

It's just a good group.

John, like bron said, the defense been great. All you great against Saturday. It seems like they continue to ace every test. How excited are you just got the challenge of them going up against this this Chiefs offense. Who's you know, been so good at this time of the year.

No doubt. I mean that's a great point.

Just just looking forward to it, you know, Yes, excited for it, for the challenge of it, to go in there with these bunch of guys. I tell you guys all the time, and it's gonna be an honor to take the field with with you men in this game, this opportunity to uh, to be side by side with you, with you guys, because I just admire them and the way they play. Uh, and it's true of our whole team,

So you go back with Steve Spagnolo quite a few years. What's what's impressed to you about how that pass Russian secondary kind of tie everything together and how the very legitimate pressure from a lot of different ways.

Yeah, not surprised at all.

I Mean Steve was here coaching, was was with Steve and Philly for all those years, and then he was here for a couple of years coaching, So you know, you just you see, he brought stuff into this and he's contributed to our system, you know when he was here, and uh I can see that we've contributed to his system too. And I watch about tap and that's good. You know, that's where it's supposed to be. But uh, great football coach. They have a great staff to you know,

Game plan against.

Honestly, I mean, I don't understand why don't see Steve's name for head coach. And I'm trying to scratch in my head on that one. You know, Uh, he's uh, he's very deserving of an opportunity coach.

On a lighter note, I don't know if your daughter is a Taylor Swift fan, but I know the NFLC used to be. Uh, Mike, the Ravens might not have a skybox available for her or Jason Kelsey this week and they might have to sit in the yelement.

So how are you dealing.

With the sideshow of the Chiefs at all?

And whyever, not surprised Jerry would ask me that question. It's like, I haven't been distracted by that at all. Hasn't really crossed my mind at all. Yeah, I can't say it has.

No.

My daughter's in college.

I mean, she's not even gonna she's not gonna be at the game. You know, I've got some Taylor Swift songs on my phone.

I do I do this week? No, I mean, what does that have to do with it?

She's skating the opponent.

Is the time on this press conference? All right, everybody, thanks a lot. I appreciate it.

That was co he' Sean Harball. You're listening to the Ravens Press Pass podcast. Make sure you leave a rating and a review and head over to the Lounge podcast feed for a early look at this AFC Championship between the Ravens and the Chiefs. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back with you later this week.