John Harbaugh will stand on the MetLife Stadium sideline on Sunday night for the first time as New York Giants head coach. The setting is anything but ordinary.
The Giants host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football during the 25th anniversary of 9/11, a combination Harbaugh described as both meaningful and worth taking in.
He does not expect the night to get away from him.
"I don't think it's going to be a problem," Harbaugh told reporters on Friday. "I don't think I'm going to lose control and start sobbing on the sidelines or anything like that. I think it's going to be meaningful."
The comparison that came to mind was his first game as Baltimore's head coach 18 years ago against Cincinnati. His instinct then was caution more than ceremony.
"My first game at Baltimore, my first thought was, hey, don't mess this thing up," Harbaugh said. "And that might be my first thought in this game, too, try not to mess it up. It's probably everybody's thought. You want to be more plus than you are minus. But also, it will be a great moment to take in."
That second part has never come easily. Harbaugh said his wife has pushed him to pause long enough to notice nights like this.
"My wife always says, you have to enjoy these moments and you have to recognize them for what they are," he said. "That's always been a challenge for me, maybe for a lot of people. But to see that stadium, the biggest stadium in the National Football League, full of the craziest, most exciting fans in the National Football League for maybe the most important historical moment, honoring the most important event that the National Football League has honored. Yeah, that's got to be a moment that you want to take in for a second."
The week already carried a family layer. Jack Harbaugh attended Friday's final practice before his son's first game with the Giants. The visit was not arranged around the anniversary. Once a reporter tied the dates together, Harbaugh reached for a larger explanation.
"It wasn't really planned for this moment because of 9/11," he said. "But now that you mentioned that, I think God works in amazing, mysterious ways."
Asked again about his father being there for the last practice before the first game in New York, Harbaugh kept it simple.
"Same thing. Same point, it's very cool," he said.
Harbaugh has coached long enough to know the atmosphere can grow larger than the game itself. Opening night, the Cowboys, 9/11, and a new sideline in New York all sit on top of one another. Harbaugh said the message inside the building has been to stay themselves.
"I talked about being intentional, but what does that really mean? What does it really mean to be us?" he said. "And that should bring the focus back on the game, which is played between the lines and between the whistles. And as I think Coach Parcells might have said, between your ears. Just keep it about that. Everything else should fade to the background once the game starts."
Asked whether he carried doubt into that first Baltimore game, Harbaugh said belief was never the issue.
"Maybe it's terrible to say, but I really kind of didn't," Harbaugh said. "Kind of pretty much did believe that I could do it. But it really isn't, as a coach, it really isn't you. That's the thing that you got to remember. It's not about the coach. It's all, it's about the players."
That is the frame Harbaugh is taking into Sunday. Take in the moment, keep the game from becoming bigger than the football, and leave the night to the players.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: John Harbaugh on first game as New York Giants coach: 'Don't mess it up"
