Did John Harbaugh want to be a special teams coordinator or was it just like a “I’ll do whatever job to get my foot in the door” type of thing

[u/veinyahhdihhhhh]

Been working towards a certain career and not quite there yet. I managed to get hire at my dream company but for a position I don’t really care about. I’ve been looking around for inspo on how to pivot to what I want then I thought of John.

Does anyone wake up and say they want to be a S/T guy? Idk it would make the next couple of year tolerable if I just pretend I’m early John Harbaugh trying to make a name for myself in a world that doesn’t know me yet, but will soon enough.

[u/TheOptimist6]

I suspect that even the special teams coaches also assist with offense or defense or both sometimes

Even though he ran special teams, I’m sure he also got good experience in other areas too.

It’s like if you want a certain job at a company but are able to get a solid job in a different field within that same company. Still a solid role that matters, but being around the role you want can help you eventually get there

[u/HetTheTable → u/TheOptimist6]

I believe Belichick started out as an assistant special teams coach

[u/PoppoLarge]

Did the janitor want to clean the dookie out of the toilet bowl or did he take the low level job first so he can work his way up?

[u/veinyahhdihhhhh → u/PoppoLarge]

Depends

[u/karthaege → u/veinyahhdihhhhh]

Nah, it was in the toilet, not the Depends.

[u/Dnabb8436]

He sure as hell wasn't getting a DC position on the birds back then. If he wanted a coordinator job ST was gonna be the only option. The eagles had Jimmy Johnson as DC and some pretty good OC during his time there

[u/UpbeatFix7299]

You have to start somewhere. No one is offering someone a head coach or offensive/defensive coordinator position right off the bat.

[u/LastEsotericist]

I mean Jay Harbaugh, John's son is currently a special teams coach, but honestly zero idea why.

[u/EvilAceVentura]

I can't speak for the football side of it, but in the job world its as much about who you know as knowing how to do the job, sometimes more. So go be the best Harbaugh clone you can be.

[u/Available-Victory177]

I was in a similar spot a few years back, took a front desk gig at a studio just to be around the energy. nobody dreams of checking people in but it got me close enough to watch how everything actually worked. just treat it like a paid internship, learn the rhythms of the place and make yourself useful in ways that point toward where you actually wanna be

[u/braines54]

There are thousands of football coaching jobs, from NFL head coach to junior college assistants. NFL special teams coordinators are in the top 250 of most prestigious jobs in the profession.

It's not a "getting your foot in the door" thing. You are already inside the door at that point.

[u/gremlin30]

Most of it was cuz Harbaugh started at small college programs. His dad Jack was a coach that had a lot of connections in the Midwest.

John Harbaugh was a DB at Miami Ohio. Harbaugh’s DB experience got him the secondary coach job at Morehead State, where he was also the ST coach.

Morehead State was Harbaugh’s first ST job, which he got partially cuz it was a small program & he talked his way into it. Morehead St didn’t have a huge budget or staff, so Harbaugh was able to get more experience since other people weren’t competing for the job.

Morehead State was where Harbaugh’s dad started his college coaching career, so they knew the Harbaugh family. That familiarity gave Morehead more trust in Harbaugh so they were more willing to give him extra responsibilities. Plus it was a small program & they needed all the help they could get.

[u/mltrout715]

He didn’t get his foot in the door with that job. It took years of work and other coaching positions to work his way up to it.