Jack Harbaugh Jack Avon Harbaugh ( born June 28 , 1939 ) is a former American football player and coach , and the father of the first pair of brothers to serve as NFL coaches and the first pair of head coaching brothers to face off in a Super Bowl : John and Jim Harbaugh . Early life and playing career . Harbaugh was born in Crestline , Crawford County , Ohio , the son of Marie Evelyn ( née Fisher ) and William Avon Harbaugh . His ancestry includes German and Irish . Harbaugh played college football for the Bowling Green State University Falcons from 1957 – 1960 , where he was a three - time letterman . In his junior year , the Falcons finished the season 9 – 0 – 0 and were named the small college division national champions . Harbaugh played professionally for one season , 1961 , in the American Football League for the Titans of New York . Coaching career . Jack Harbaugh began as an assistant coach to Jack Donaldson in Perrysburg , Ohio , southwest of Toledo . ( Donaldson later went on to coach the University of Toledo and in the NFL . ) Both sons were born while Harbaugh was in Perrysburg . In 1964 , Harbaugh was the head coach of Eaton High School football team in Eaton , Ohio . His record was 5 - 4 - 1 , their first winning season in many years . In 1965 the team went 6 - 4 . In 1966 , Harbaugh was the head coach of the Xenia High School football team in Xenia , Ohio . His record for the one year that he coached was 8 – 1 – 1 . From 1982 – 1986 , he served as the head football coach at Western Michigan University and compiled a 26 – 26 – 3 record . From 1989 – 2002 , he was the head football coach at Western Kentucky University and posted a 91 – 68 record , including three 10 - win seasons during his tenure with the Hilltoppers . His 2002 squad won the NCAA Division I - AA national football championship . After leaving Western Kentucky , Harbaugh served as an associate athletic director at Marquette University , Milwaukee , Wisconsin , where his son - in - law , Tom Crean , was the head coach of the men ' s basketball team . Harbaugh has also served as an assistant coach at Morehead State University , Bowling Green State University , the University of Iowa , the University of Michigan , Stanford University , the University of Pittsburgh , and the University of San Diego . Harbaugh retired in 2006 , but served as Stanford ' s running backs coach in the 2009 Sun Bowl under his son , Jim . Jack filled in for Willie Taggart , who had recently been hired as the new head football coach at WKU . Personal life . Harbaugh married his wife , Jacqueline M . " Jackie " ( Cipiti ) , in 1961 . Their two sons , Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh ( himself a former NFL quarterback ) , are the first pair of brothers to serve as head coaches in NFL history : Both brothers coached their teams in a game unofficially nicknamed the ' Harbaugh Bowl ' on Thanksgiving Day , 2011 , one day before Jack and Jackie ' s 50th wedding anniversary . They faced each other again in a second ' Harbaugh Bowl ' when Baltimore beat San Francisco February 3 , 2013 at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans by a score of 34 - 31 . Their daughter Joani ' s husband , Tom Crean , is the head basketball coach for the Indiana University Hoosiers . Jack and Jackie Harbaugh settled in Mequon , Wisconsin when he took the position as Associate Athletic Director for Marquette University in Milwaukee . Harbaugh is a member of the Bowling Green State University chapter of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity .