What John Harbaugh’s Wife Says on Being Married to NFL Head Coach
hm
NFL coach John Harbaugh met his current wife, Ingrid Harbaugh, while working for his father at Western Michigan University around thirty-six years ago.
Harbaugh and his wife Ingrid are well-known names in the NFL universe. They are also parents to their daughter Alison Harbaugh.
How Did John Harbaugh Meet His Wife Ingrid Harbaugh?
The head coach of Baltimore Ravens coincidentally met his wife, Ingrid.
In 1985, Harbaugh was a graduate assistant for his father, Jack Harbaugh, at Western Michigan University.
Ingrid was serving the student assistant position in the baseball team's office at the same university.
Source: Twitter
During that time, Harbaugh was once asked to walk across the campus and help fix a broken copier machine in Ingrid's office. Harbaugh, who did likewise, fell in love with Ingrid at the very moment.
During his conversation with Player Wags, Harbaugh recalled meeting his wife-to-be and said,
That’s how it all started. I knew from the beginning, because I appreciated the depth of her personality and character. We were both young and still figuring out where we stood on things. I knew she had a good heart.
During one of their recruiting trips, Harbaugh took their relationship a step further. He visited a jewelry shop and bought a ring, and hid it inside a stuffed elephant doll.
Harbough later gifted the doll to Ingrid, and upon her noticing the ring, the aspiring sports personality got down on his knees and proposed to Ingrid to marry him.
The couple eventually exchanged their vows in 1991.
Source: Twitter
Ingrid's Take On Being Married to Coach Harbaugh
In 2012, Ingrid had an exclusive conversation with iVillage regarding what it is like being a wife to a famous sports personality.
Ingrid highlighted the word "stressful" in her answer and said,
The first word would be ‘stressful.' It’s very stressful, for like all six months of the season.
It can be understood that the pair has had a strong bonding, and Ingrid, in particular, understood her husband's passion for the sport.
She further revealed the pre-match ritual, which both Harbaugh and Ingrid performed in their way.
Ingrid explained that the husband and wife would "always signal each other before a game," by blowing kisses and giving "thumbs up" to each other during Raven's home fixtures.
Source: YouTube
During the away match days, Harbaugh "always calls me [from] the locker room before he goes out on the field," said Ingrid.
However, Ingrid talked about how her husband's team's performance always resulted in a loss every time they "miss" doing their pre-match ritual.
In the same conversation, Ingrid gave a message for women in a relationship with someone deeply vested in sports.
If you want to spend four hours with your husband on Sunday, you may want to watch a game with them and start to understand it.
The interviewer asked Harbaugh's wife whether the busy football coach has the time to be part of "family dinners together," or is that "just a rarity?"
Ingrid informed the interviewer that "Friday night" is the only time during the entire week, during an ongoing season, that Harbaugh is home for dinner with his family.