Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh recalls when he first met Nick Saban, in 2003.
“It was at the Final Four in New Orleans,” Harbaugh said. “We had a chance to have a conversation. [Saban is] super interesting to talk to, and yeah, we’re going against the best.”
Since that day in 2003, the two have gone to the pros and back, building blue bloods of college football to their past glory. In the same way they first met at the Final Four, their teams will meet in college football’s version. A trip to the national championship is on the line, and only one of the two coaches will emerge victorious from the Rose Bowl.
Saban and Harbaugh have been on opposite sides seven times throughout their playing and coaching careers.
The first three matchups came between 1984 and 1986 when Harbaugh was the starting quarterback at Michigan, and Saban was the defensive backs coach for Michigan State. In the 1984 meeting, Harbaugh broke his arm and had to come out of the game, and the Wolverines lost to the Spartans 19-7. Harbaugh got his revenge, winning the next two Paul Bunyan Trophy matchups.
The two matched up 10 years later when Harbaugh was in his first year as the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts, and Saban was under Bill Belichick as the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. Saban and the Browns beat Harbaugh’s Colts 21-14, as Harbaugh threw for 194 yards and one touchdown, completing 62% of his throws.
After Harbaugh retired from the NFL in 2001, he began to make waves in the coaching world. He was the Oakland Raiders’ quarterback coach during Rich Gannon’s 2002 MVP campaign. In 2004, Harbaugh accepted the head coaching job at the University of San Diego, leading the Toreros to back-to-back 11-1 seasons. Harbaugh then took the head coaching position at Stanford in 2007. In just four years, Harbaugh took the Cardinal from 1-11 to Orange Bowl champions with a 12-1 record in 2010.
Following his time in Palo Alto, Harbaugh stayed in the Bay Area but jumped to the NFL. While Saban was unsuccessful at the pro level, Harbaugh led the San Francisco 49ers to three consecutive NFC championship game appearances. Harbaugh’s disputes with leadership in the 49ers organization led to his removal as head coach after the 2014 season.
Days after finishing his tenure with the 49ers, Harbaugh was introduced as the head coach at his alma mater, Michigan. The Wolverines’ program has since been restored to the top of college football, and this season marks Michigan’s third consecutive College Football Playoff appearance.
Harbaugh and Saban first met as head coaches in their current positions in 2020 at the Vrbo Citrus Bowl. Alabama won the matchup 35-16.
The two polarizing coaches have a deeper connection than just the on-field matchups. When Saban coached at Michigan State, Harbaugh’s brother-in-law, Tom Crean, was an assistant coach for the Spartans basketball program. Crean eventually moved on from the Spartans, landing the head coaching job at Marquette, leading the Golden Eagles to the 2003 Final Four. This event happened to be taking place in New Orleans, just over an hour’s drive from Saban’s workplace at the time, Louisiana State University. Harbaugh’s relationship with Crean and Saban’s proximity to New Orleans led to their first conversation in 2003.
Saban says he has tremendous admiration for the Harbaugh family.
“It’s a great family, the Harbaugh family,” he said. “I knew the dad. He used to help me when I was a secondary coach. His brother John [the head coach of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens], great football people. I’ve got a lot of respect for the entire family, and Tom Crean is part of that family.”
When the clock strikes triple zeros in Pasadena on Jan. 1, either Saban will have advanced to his seventh College Football Playoff national championship, or Harbaugh will have advanced to his first. It is tradition, pageantry and high stakes and is what college football is all about; in the words of Harbaugh, “the tradition of the Rose Bowl, playing a great team like Alabama, I mean, it always has the meaning.”
With a move back to the NFL looming for Harbaugh, this game has higher stakes than ever, and college football analyst Paul Finebaum encapsulated them perfectly.
“This is one of the most intriguing matchups I’ve ever seen,” Finebaum said. “You just don’t know what’s on the other side of this game for Nick Saban or Jim Harbaugh. So, I’m glad to see it.”
