John Harbaugh was coy when asked about the prospect of coaching against his brother in the NFL again as reports swirl about Jim Harbaugh interviewing for the Minnesota Vikings' head coach job.
According to TheWolverine.com, Jim is interviewing Wednesday and it's a “formality” that he’ll get the job.
"I think he's in Minnesota unless the plans changed in the last few hours," Harbaugh said Wednesday afternoon with a smile.
"If he's in Minnesota, I'd be happy to play him in the next three years. If anybody knows how the schedule in the NFL works, they understand what that means. That would be awesome, that would be great."
The Ravens played the Vikings this past season, so they won't face them in the regular season again for another four years (2025).
The only way the brothers could coach against each other before then would be the Super Bowl – which they have a little history with. John's Ravens topped Jim's 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII back in 2013. Two years later, Jim accepted a job back at his alma mater at Michigan.
Jim is coming off his finest season at Michigan in which the Wolverines reached the college playoff semifinals and toppled rival Ohio State for the first time since 2011.
"I'll sing his praises; I always do every time someone asks, I'm happy to do it," John said. "I think he's one of the very best coaches in the National Football League, maybe even ever, and college football. I think he's the best. If the Minnesota Vikings are smart enough to get that done, then they'll be making a wise choice."
Before Jim started his reported path back to the NFL, he had to have a conversation with John about taking his defensive coordinator. John recommended Mike Macdonald for the defensive coordinator position at Michigan a year ago. After turning around the Wolverines defense, John wanted Macdonald back to help do the same in Baltimore.
"Jim and I have been arguing back and forth for a long time, so we're very comfortable," John joked. "I called Jim to see if he would be OK with it if we asked permission to interview Mike for the job. He was great about it, he really was. Maybe there was a couple seconds of silence, and then he was like, 'Absolutely. You took care of me, and Mike's a great guy and he deserves the opportunity.' That's how it went."
