Welcome back to another episode of Run It Back! Today, we are going to look back on Super Bowl XLVII, which was the last time the Super Bowl was played at Caesars Superdome (then Mercedes-Benz Superdome) in New Orleans.
Another Super Bowl has come and gone—Super Bowl LIX, the 59th Super Bowl, saw the Philadelphia Eagles soundly defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 at New Orleans’s Caesars Superdome. This was the Eagles’ second Super Bowl win, and the 11th time that New Orleans hosted the Super Bowl.
The last time the Super Bowl was played in The Big Easy, history was made: for the first time ever, two brothers coached against one another in a Super Bowl. That’s right—brothers John and Jim Harbaugh got to face off on professional football’s biggest stage. John’s team, the Baltimore Ravens, represented the AFC, while Jim coached the NFC’s representative, the San Francisco 49ers. Before we get to the actual game itself, though, let’s back up a minute and talk about how the Harbaughs made it to the Super Bowl.
The Harbaugh brothers were born a year apart from one another in Toledo, Ohio—John in 1962 and Jim in 1963. Their father, Jack Harbaugh, was an assistant football coach for nearby Perrysburg High School, and the family frequently moved due to Jack’s changing coaching positions. After three more years coaching high school football, Jack moved up to the college ranks in 1967, where he served as an assistant coach for three different institutions over the next several years.
In 1973, Jack moved his family to Michigan, where he spent seven seasons as the defensive backs coach for the University of Michigan. There, John and Jim attended Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School, playing for the school’s football team. Both brothers played quarterback in high school, but John switched to the halfback and defensive back positions when Jim was a sophomore. John graduated from Pioneer in 1980, but Jim transferred to Palo Alto High School when Jack became Stanford University’s defensive coordinator.
After two seasons at Stanford, Jack became the head coach at Western Michigan University. By this point, Jim had graduated from Palo Alto and had begun his collegiate career at Michigan, while John was midway through his time at Miami University (OH). John graduated from Miami in 1984, joining his father’s coaching staff at Western Michigan to coach the running backs and outside linebackers.
In 1985, Jim helped lead Michigan to a 10-1-1 record and the No. 2 spot in the AP poll, the program’s best finish under head coach Bo Schembechler. That season, Michigan defeated Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl, recording their first bowl victory in four years. Jim ended the season passing 139-for-212 for 1,913 passing yards and 18 touchdowns.
Jim had another good season in his senior year, helping Michigan to an 11-2 record and a Big Ten Conference co-championship. In his final collegiate season, Jim went 167-for-254 passing for 2,557 yards and 10 TDs over 12 games. At season’s end, Jim finished third in Heisman Trophy voting as Michigan lost to Arizona State in the Rose Bowl.
In 1987, Jim was drafted 26th overall by the Chicago Bears, while Jack and John moved on to the University of Pittsburgh. Jack became the head coach at Western Kentucky University two years later, and John went on to become the special teams coordinator for the University of Cincinnati.
Initially, Jim did not see a whole lot of playing time at the NFL level. Sitting behind Super Bowl XX champions Jim McMahon and Mike Tomczak, the Bears did not play the younger Harbaugh very much until 1989. Between 1990 and 1991, Jim started 30 of Chicago’s 32 games as the Bears went 11-5 in back-to-back years and earned two playoff berths.
Jim made his postseason debut in Chicago’s 1991 wild-card matchup, tossing a pair of interceptions as the Bears lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 17-13. Chicago fired head coach Mike Ditka after the 1992 campaign, and Jim’s time with the Bears ended a little bit later. In 1993, Jim went 7-8 as a starter, throwing just seven touchdown passes against 11 interceptions. Over seven seasons with Chicago, Jim went 35-30 as a starter, throwing 50 TDs and 56 interceptions.
1994 gave way to the beginning of Jim’s coaching career; while he still remained an NFL quarterback, he also served on his father’s coaching staff at WKU. There, Jim was an unpaid offensive consultant, scouting and recruiting high school players from around the country. On the field, Jim’s career as a QB continued with the Indianapolis Colts, and in 1995, he earned his first Pro Bowl selection. That season, Jim attained new career highs in completion percentage (63.7), passer rating (100.7), and touchdown passes (17), assisting the Colts to a berth in the AFC Championship Game.
After another playoff appearance in 1996, Jim’s time with Indianapolis ended after a disappointing 1997 season. From there, Jim’s playing career wound down, spending a few uneventful years with the Ravens and Chargers before ultimately retiring as a player following the 2001 season. Jim then moved to coaching full-time beginning in 2002, joining the Oakland Raiders as the team’s quarterbacks coach.
While Jim’s playing career was coming to an end, John climbed up the coaching ranks from college to the NFL. John stayed on as Cincinnati’s special teams coordinator through 1996 before taking the same position with Indiana University in 1997. In 1998, John became the Philadelphia Eagles’ special teams coordinator, and he was retained during the team’s transition from Ray Rhodes to Andy Reid.
John remained with the Eagles through 2007, later becoming the team’s defensive backs coach. In 2008, John secured his first head coaching position with the Baltimore Ravens, being named as the third head coach in team history. Baltimore had instant success under John’s direction, reaching the playoffs in each of his first four seasons and advancing to two AFC Championship Games.
Among the Ravens’ most impressive wins during this period was a 33-14 romp of the New England Patriots in the 2009 Wild Card Round. In the game, Baltimore shut out New England in the first quarter, and led 24-7 at halftime. By the end of the day, the Ravens picked off Tom Brady three times, handing him his worst playoff defeat up to that point in his career; this was the Patriots’ first wild card loss of the Brady era, and first overall since 1998.
Just as John’s head coaching career was getting going, Jim was working to join him as an NFL head coach. Jim spent two seasons as the Raiders’ QBs coach, helping Oakland starter Rich Gannon win NFL MVP honors in 2002; that year, the Raiders reached Super Bowl XXXVII, the team’s first Super Bowl appearance in 19 years.
Following the 2003 season, Jim accepted his first head coaching position at the University of San Diego. By his second season, San Diego had become a powerhouse in the Pioneer Football League, rattling off consecutive 11-1 campaigns in 2005 and 2006; San Diego was crowned as PFL champions both times. Jim’s impressive turnaround of San Diego caught the attention of Stanford, where his father had once served as defensive coordinator.
Stanford was down in the doldrums, falling all the way to 1-11 in 2006. While the program did not improve overnight, there were signs of promise early on. In 2007, Stanford entered their fifth game of the season at 1-3, set to face off against No. 2 USC. Having lost 42-0 against USC the year before, Stanford was a 41-point underdog heading into the matchup.
Against all odds, Stanford won 24-23, pulling off a stunning upset to earn their second win of the season. Although starting QB T.C. Ostrander suffered a seizure a week earlier, Tavita Pritchard took over and threw the game-winning touchdown pass for Stanford. Stanford ultimately finished the season 4-8, but things were looking a lot better compared to 2006.
In 2009, Stanford finished 8-5 to tie for second place in the Pacific-10 Conference; as a result, Stanford qualified for a bowl game for the first time in eight years. Be that as it may, Jim’s third season with Stanford ended with a loss to Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl. Despite the loss, though, Stanford was about to get even stronger the following year.
Stanford dominated in 2010, going 12-1 in Jim’s final season with the program. After opening the season 4-0, Stanford lost to Oregon 52-31, but won every game the rest of the way. Oregon went undefeated, however, preventing Stanford from winning the Pac-10 title. Nevertheless, Stanford blew out Virginia Tech 40-12 in the Orange Bowl, claiming their first bowl victory since 1996. At season’s end, Jim returned to the NFL, becoming the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
The 49ers had low expectations entering 2011; over the last eight seasons, San Francisco failed to post a record above .500, with their best showing being an 8-8 campaign in 2009. Despite the potential of quarterback Alex Smith, the 49ers did not have a whole lot going their way for much of the 21st century.
Once again, Jim led a successful turnaround, helping San Francisco to a 13-3 record and an NFC West division title in 2011. Smith obtained new career highs in passing yards (3,144) and completion percentage (61.3), and had the best touchdown-interception ratio of his career up to that point (3.4). In addition, running back Frank Gore finished sixth in the league in rushing yards (1,211), his highest mark in five years.
The 49ers earned the NFC’s second playoff seed, their best finish in over a decade. San Francisco defeated the New Orleans Saints in the 2011 Divisional Round on a game-winning touchdown pass from Smith to tight end Vernon Davis, which went down in team lore as “The Catch III” after two similarly clutch catches from prior playoff games. With the win, the 49ers advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1997.
As this was happening, John’s Ravens were in the AFC Championship Game. After losing back-to-back divisional playoff games, Baltimore got over the hump with a win over the Houston Texans in 2011. Their conference championship opponents? The Patriots, the team that the Ravens stymied in the postseason just two years earlier. Of course, New England was no easy foe, but Baltimore had won against them before. Would John’s team prevail a second time, potentially creating a chance for the Harbaughs to meet in Super Bowl XLVI?
The game was close throughout, with neither side up by more than one score at any point. Late in the fourth quarter, the Ravens were down 23-20 but had one last chance to go ahead or at least tie the game. Baltimore got into Patriots territory, but after two incomplete passes by quarterback Joe Flacco, the Ravens settled for a field goal attempt. Kicker Billy Cundiff attempted to tie the game from 32 yards out, but missed wide left. No matter what happened between San Francisco and the New York Giants in the NFC Championship, any chances of the Harbaugh brothers meeting in the Super Bowl were dashed.
Sure enough, Jim’s 49ers lost to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game. In another tightly-contested game, San Francisco lost 20-17 in overtime, thanks in part to a fumble by punt returner Kyle Williams.
Heading into 2012, both of the Harbaugh brothers were looking to avenge their disheartening defeats from 2011. Both teams began the season strong, with Baltimore starting 9-2 and the 49ers beginning the year 8-2-1, but they both faced some challenges along the way.
The Ravens dropped four of five to end the season 10-6; they still won the AFC North division title, but only due to having a better division record than the second-place Cincinnati Bengals (4-2 vs. 3-3). As a result, Baltimore settled for the AFC’s fourth seed in the postseason, two spots lower than their second-place finish from 2011. Nevertheless, John’s historic run in the early going as the Ravens’ head coach continued, with Baltimore setting a new franchise record by qualifying for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.
San Francisco had a slightly better season overall, going 11-4-1, but had a change at quarterback midway through the year. Smith, who had been the 49ers’ starter for much of the last few seasons, suffered a concussion during the team’s Week 10 contest vs. the St. Louis Rams. Backup Colin Kaepernick took over, bringing San Francisco back from a 17-7 deficit as the 49ers tied the Rams, 24-24.
The following week, Kaepernick went 16-for-23 passing for 243 yards and two touchdowns as San Francisco got a resounding 32-7 victory over the Chicago Bears. Jim, encouraged by Kaepernick’s performance, eventually named him the starter for the remainder of the season. The 49ers went 4-2 the rest of the way, claiming the NFC West division title and the NFC’s second seed once again.
The 2012 playoffs began with the Ravens defeating former Stanford QB Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts—Baltimore’s old team—during Wild Card Weekend. Despite Indianapolis getting within four at halftime, Baltimore pulled away with two touchdown passes from Flacco in the second half to win 24-9. Since San Francisco had obtained a bye, both teams were in the divisional playoffs.
The 49ers opened their playoff run by beating the Green Bay Packers, 45-31. Kaepernick put up a remarkable performance, scoring four touchdowns on the day—two passing, two rushing—to outduel Aaron Rodgers and win his first career playoff game. San Francisco had previously fallen short against Green Bay multiple times, losing to them in the playoffs four times between 1995 and 2001. Thus, the win not only got the 49ers into their second consecutive NFC Championship Game, but it also helped to exorcise some postseason demons.
The Ravens flew to Denver to face the top-seeded Broncos in the next round. Denver, having been invigorated by the arrival of QB Peyton Manning, were favored to win against Baltimore. Back in Week 15, the Ravens hosted the Broncos for a pivotal regular season matchup, and lost 34-17 after falling behind 31-3.
The Divisional Round was much closer, with both combatants trading touchdowns throughout the game. By the end of the third quarter, the teams were tied at 28, combining for eight TDs on the day. Then, with Denver up 35-28 in the fourth, Baltimore wide receiver Jacoby Jones scored a 70-yard touchdown. The game became tied once more, 35-35, and it soon went to overtime.
Neither team scored in the first overtime period, but Manning threw a costly interception near the end of the frame, giving the Ravens one last chance. On the ensuing drive, Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker sent his team back to the AFC Championship Game with a 47-yard field goal. This set the stage for a rematch with New England, and John’s team was surely hungry for some revenge.
Meanwhile, San Francisco went to Atlanta to face the top-seeded Falcons in the NFC Championship. The Niners climbed back from a 17-0 hole by scoring four touchdowns over the last three quarters, with Gore rushing for two of them. Gore’s second TD gave San Francisco the lead, and although Atlanta forced a punt late in the game, the 49ers held on to win, 28-24. For the first time in 18 years, San Francisco had claimed the NFC title.
In the AFC Championship, the Ravens scored 21 unanswered points in the second half. Baltimore’s defense kept the Patriots off the board over the last two quarters, intercepting Brady twice and recovering a fumble by New England running back Stevan Ridley. Needless to say, the Ravens prevailed over the Patriots again, eliminating them for the second time in four years. For the first time since 2000, Baltimore was in the Super Bowl.
The stage was set: Ravens vs. 49ers, John vs. Jim. Historically, San Francisco was 5-0 in the Super Bowl, while Baltimore was 1-0. Unfortunately, one of those unbeaten records would be coming to an end in New Orleans during Super Bowl XLVII.
Mercedes-Benz Superdome would be the site of the Harbaugh family reunion, with the brothers making history as the first siblings to ever coach against one another in a Super Bowl. Adding fuel to the fire was Jim’s son Jay, who was on his uncle’s coaching staff in Baltimore as the team’s offensive quality control coach.
Super Bowl XLVII began well for John and Jay, as the Ravens jumped out to a 21-3 lead in the second quarter. Flacco tossed three touchdown passes in the early going, including a 56-yard pass to Jones. San Francisco got another field goal at the end of the first half, but they were still down by 15 heading into the third quarter.
Jones came out of the break on a mission, going all the way to the end zone for a 108-yard kick return score; this became the longest kickoff return in NFL playoff history, surpassing Trindon Holliday’s 104-yard score against Baltimore from a few weeks prior. With the Ravens up 28-6, things were looking dicey for Jim and the Niners.
Then, the unthinkable happened: the power went out inside the Superdome. The outage was not resolved for 34 minutes, and after play had resumed, the momentum had almost completely shifted in San Francisco’s favor. Kaepernick threw a 31-yard touchdown to Michael Crabtree, Gore got a rushing score, and Tarell Brown forced and recovered Ray Rice’s fumble. The blackout had seemingly resurrected the 49ers, who were now down by just five points following David Akers’s field goal.
Baltimore opened the fourth quarter with a field goal by Tucker, restoring their lead to eight. Kaepernick quickly responded by rushing for a 15-yard TD, bringing San Francisco within two. On the ensuing drive, Tucker got another field goal, making it 34-29 with just over four minutes to play. If the 49ers were going to complete the comeback, they needed another big scoring drive.
Gore put San Francisco in a crucial position, rushing for 41 yards on the 49ers’ final drive to help get to the Ravens’ five-yard line. It was do or die time, and San Francisco needed just one more touchdown catch to pull ahead.
The Niners did not get that last catch.
Kaepernick threw three passes to Crabtree, and Crabtree could not come up with any of them. On Kaepernick’s final pass attempt, Baltimore cornerback Jimmy Smith made contact with Crabtree before the ball arrived, but despite Jim Harbaugh’s pleas, there was no flag on the play for holding.
With just 12 seconds remaining, Ravens punter Sam Koch took a safety in the end zone to preserve the victory. Baltimore defeated San Francisco 34-31, ending the first-ever brother vs. brother coaching matchup in the Super Bowl. The Ravens won the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history, supplanting the 49ers as the only NFL team to be unbeaten over multiple Super Bowl appearances; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have since accomplished this feat as well.
John is still Baltimore’s head coach all these years later, having just completed his 17th season with the Ravens organization. Baltimore has now reached the playoffs 12 times since John started in 2008, but they have yet to return to the Super Bowl. As of the end of the 2024 season, John is the second longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, sitting only one year behind Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Jim remained with the 49ers for two more years before being fired after the 2014 season. In 2013, San Francisco reached the NFC Championship Game for the third year in a row, losing to the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 23-17. Following the game, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, one of Jim’s former players at Stanford, had an all-time interview with FOX reporter Erin Andrews after making a game-saving tip to send Seattle to the Super Bowl.
In 2015, Jim returned to his alma mater to coach college football once more. Eight years later, Michigan defeated Washington to win the National Championship for the first time in 26 years. Today, Jim is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, and like with the 49ers, Jim got the Chargers to the postseason in his first year as their head coach. Perhaps a Chargers-Ravens playoff game is in the cards soon?
Even if that does not happen, it will not take away from the spectacle of what went down in Super Bowl XLVII. This game really had everything: two teams that had not reached the Super Bowl in over a decade, the teams’ head coaches being brothers, and a power outage all in the same game. We may never see any of those things happen again, and that is okay. Sometimes, we need sports history to have special, one-time occurrences because that is what makes these games worth watching.
