Harbaugh brothers share a better-late-than-never hug in sweet CFP sideline moment

College Football

Updated Jan. 8, 2024 9:35 p.m. ET

As if Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh needed one more thing to stress about during Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game against Washington, he was unsure whether his brother John Harbaugh would make it.

With John’s Baltimore Ravens having secured the AFC’s No. 1 seed and thus a bye week in the upcoming NFL playoffs, the longtime head coach had planned to travel to Houston to support Jim, as first reported by FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer. It’s the biggest game Jim has coached in since he led the San Francisco 49ers against John and the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl 47, which the Ravens won.

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But the inclement weather in Houston caused John’s flight to be delayed, and it was unclear whether John would actually be able to arrive in time to catch some of the game, according to the ESPN broadcast. But John made it after all, and TV cameras captured the moment he embraced Jim on Michigan’s sideline during the second quarter.

Michigan football has long been a family affair, even before Jim was a quarterback in the 1980s under legendary head coach Bo Schembelcher before returning to the Wolverines as head coach in 2015. Jim and John spent much of their childhood in Ann Arbor as their father was an assistant coach under Schembelcher for much of the 1970s.

Jim and John may be reunited in the NFL soon, as the former has done little to combat widespread, heavy speculation that he will return to the professional ranks as a head coach after Monday’s championship game.

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