What did your brother, former Ravens QB Jim Harbaugh, tell you about Baltimore?

Was there a defining moment in the interview process that made you know John Harbaugh was the next coach of the Ravens? (BISCIOTTI) "No, because like I said, these guys delivered me six people that could be my head coach. We were looking for a combination of qualities that are intelligence, character and a reputation. In order to get a reputation to end up in that final six, in order to garner the kind of positive thoughts people communicated to us… You've spent 25 years doing a million little things right or you don't get the kind of endorsements that we got out of these six candidates. So, I was never nervous. I was always calm because I was always in front of guys of great integrity that were being delivered to me from my football guys, saying, ‘These are good football coaches.' I was looking for the right kind of guy. I was looking for a leader that I could look at and say I can see him standing up there in front of my team. So, no, there's no defining moment when you're lucky enough to be handed six candidates that were as highly regarded as these guys were that came into our building in the last 10 days."

What did your brother, former Ravens QB Jim Harbaugh, tell you about Baltimore? (HARBAUGH) "Jim had a great experience in Baltimore. He was with coach [Ted] Marchibroda. He came over with coach from Indianapolis. I talked to Jim last night and he is on a recruiting mission in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I don't know if were allowed to say that per NCAA rules, exactly, but he was fired up. He was in the car and he was screaming and excited. It's pretty neat. I've got a brother-in-law by the name of Tom Crean and he's married to my sister Joani. He's the head basketball coach at Marquette. We have a lot of great talk around the holiday dinner table whenever we can get together. It's a great coaching family. They're good people and they're all fired up."

What do you draw from your family experience of coaching about being a head coach? (HARBAUGH) "I think the thing that they all agree with and that we've learned from the beginning is that it's really about core football beliefs, certain fundamental values that hold true, that every single player on this football team knows what they are and they believe in them. They know what's right. They understand how to be successful in this game because they've gotten so far. You don't get to this level and compete at this level unless you understand what it takes to be a good football player and a good football team, and those things hold true. I think that's the kind of coach I am – core fundamental values, good solid football coach, play hard, do the right thing, take care of one another and good things work out. And, if you stand on those things you're going to be OK as a coach."

Can you talk about the situation with Rex Ryan and the Ravens players campaigning for him? Did that hurt his chances at all? (BISCIOTTI) "No, of course it didn't hurt him. It would be ridiculous to think that they wouldn't campaign for him. Rex has been around interviewing for other jobs, too. He's getting the same kind of accolades that the rest of the candidates are getting out there. It certainly didn't hurt him; it was our job to make sure it didn't help him. He was in a unique situation, and I trusted the instincts of my committee and that we made the best decision that we thought we needed to go forward. I think very highly of Rex. I talked to Arthur Blank about Rex a half hour ago, and if Rex doesn't get the Atlanta job – I hope he does – then I hope he stays here."

What did you learn in Philadelphia about the balance of coaching and personal life with Andy Reid's situation? (HARBAUGH) "That's always a struggle. I might get a chance to talk to my dad about that afterwards. He's probably got better answers than I do. I've got a 6-year-old. I saw coach Reid handle a tough situation like a rock. He didn't let the personal stuff spill over into the football side, and I know he spent a lot of time on the personal side and continues to do that and loves his family and is a wonderful father, just like Tammy [Reid] is a great mother and a great wife. So, I don't know if anybody has that answer. You fight every day to do the best you can."

What did you learn from seeing Reid come to Philadelphia and become a head coach? (HARBAUGH) "And [former Eagles head coach] Ray Rhodes, boy, I really enjoyed that year with Ray Rhodes. What a good man and a good coach, giving me, a young guy, an opportunity to coach in the NFL. But Andy Reid wasn't a coordinator in the NFL. He was a quarterback coach. I think that Jeffrey Lurie looked at coach Reid and saw the qualities that he was looking for in a Hall of Fame-caliber coach someday. And Andy is on track to achieve that. Hopefully, we have a little part of that along the way, and we can brag about that someday. But, I think that's what you do. You stand on those values, those principles. We've got plenty of schedules, plenty of organizational ideas, all those little things that go into coaching, but you watch the process. But Andy's whole deal is: You establish a plan, you stick with the plan, you're relentlessly persistent in pursuing the plan and you see what happens in the end."

What was that phone call like when you told your father that you were a head coach in the NFL? (HARBAUGH) "Well, I tried to kind of slow play him a little bit, to see if he would bite on me, but he didn't, he didn't. He was onto me. It was thrilling. There was a lot of screaming going on on the other side of the line. It was one of those moments in life."

What is it about coaching special teams on the professional level that prepares you to deal with an entire roster of players? (HARBAUGH) "Well, that's a great question, and we've had a lot of talks about that. It was great coaching the secondary this year, too. I think every position has its own unique situations that it brings to the table. But the thing about special teams that a lot of people don't realize is you are handling the entire team every single day. You're dealing with offensive linemen, you're dealing with the defensive backs, the wide receivers – they're all a little bit different. You get a chance to coach them every single day. You touch them in football, and then you kind of mold your team. You also get a chance to work with the young guys. That's where you develop the young part of your football team, and that's thrilling as a coach because you build a foundation for your football team with those young guys. I think that's probably the greatest part of coaching special teams. It's the most fun part."