OWINGS MILLS — Jim Harbaugh has closely followed the career of his brother John in Baltimore.
Now as the head coach of the Chargers, Jim Harbaugh is looking to emulate John’s success by bringing in several former Ravens players and coaches to join him in Los Angeles.
“I think [Jim] is excited about this,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said about his brother coaching again in the NFL. “I think he’s really excited about the Chargers. I think he’s excited about the [Spanos] family. He goes way back, [and] he has great relationships there [with] everybody in the building, really, I think he’s starting to build with. The guys he’s brought over, he knows. He has a comfort with that.”
Here’s a roundup of former Ravens and coaches hired or signed by the Chargers.
- Greg Roman, the mastermind behind the Ravens’ single 16-game-season team rushing record with 3,296 yards in 2019, is the new offensive coordinator in Los Angeles.
- Running back Gus Edwards will be reunited with Roman after agreeing to a two-year, $6.5 million contract with Los Angeles last month. Edwards signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and ran for 3,395 yards with 26 touchdowns over five seasons.
- Bradley Bozeman will compete for a starting job on the offensive line after reaching a one-year deal last month. The Ravens originally drafted Bozeman in the sixth round (215th overall) of the 2018 NFL draft from Alabama. He started every game at left guard of the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In 2021, he became the starting center.
- Fullback Ben Mason was selected by the Ravens in the fifth round (184th overall) of the 2021 draft. He spent portions of the last three seasons with the Ravens, contributing to the active roster and practice squad. Mason played under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.
- Tight end Hayden Hurst was a first-round selection (25th overall) by the Ravens in the 2018 draft. He has started 43 of 84 career games with the Ravens, Falcons, Bengals, and Panthers.
- Mike Devlin spent two years as the assistant offensive line coach for the Ravens, helping guard Kevin Zeitler and center Tyler Linderbaum to Pro Bowl nods this past season. He was one of Jim Harbaugh’s first hires and will serve as the offensive line coach.
John and Jim competed against one another as head coaches when the Ravens defeated the 49ers, 34-31, in Super Bowl XLVII. The two are now bracing for more battles as foes in the AFC.
“That’s definitely going to be different like it was when he was with San Francisco,” John Harbaugh said. “There are things we’ll talk about, and we are definitely going to continue to be brothers. We’re just going to be brothers – you have to look at it that way – but we are going to be competitors, too, so it will probably change a little bit.”
