- Coach Craft
- Posts
- What Do You Want To Do?
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has long gained fans for his repeated habit of asking superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson what he wants to do in a particular circumstance.
That’s all well and good when you have the Game IQ of the MVP at your disposal. But it’s not just his stars that Harbaugh goes to for input.
In a game against the Green Bay Packers in 2021, Harbaugh spent time quizzing players about their instincts about whether to risk losing the game in favour of going for a win.
After backup quarterback Tyler Huntley scored a touchdown with 42 seconds remaining, the Ravens trailed by a solitary point. Rather than having a pre-determined outcome in mind, Harbaugh asked for input from his coaching staff over the radio.
Then, he walked onto the field to quiz his players.
With four players huddled around, Harbaugh asked: “We can kick the extra point and go to overtime, and we’re in good shape. Or, we try to win it here and we need to keep them out of field goal range. What do you want to do?”
It was tight-end Mark Andrews who spoke decisively, “Let’s win this, Coach!”
After Huntley’s pass to Andrews went incomplete, the Ravens were confined to defeat, trailing 30-31 while having to kick off to the Packers with just 40 seconds remaining.
As time expired, Andrews approached Harbaugh to offer some words, “That was the right move. Love you, bro.”
“That was the right move.”
Coach Harbaugh was Wired yesterday vs. the Packers as he talked with players about the decision to go for the two-point conversion at the end of the game.
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens)
8:23 PM • Dec 20, 2021
This, to me, is what coaching looks like when it’s performed by a real craftsman.
It is player-informed (not player-centric).
It is coach-informed (not coach-centric).
It is data-informed (not data-centric).
It is situation aware and the questions aren’t dripping with fear. If anything, it feels like he’s urging them to be brave. Just listen to the way he says, “Okay, let’s go for it!”
And all the time you get the sense that if something didn’t add up, Harbaugh would pull the decision and make it himself, as is the responsibility placed on the ultimate leader.
This level of trust is not something you can just do in the fourth quarter on Sundays, it’s instilled, often over years, in the daily environment.