In six days, Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh will become only the 12th person ever to play AND serve as a head coach in the Rose Bowl.
Harbaugh joins an exclusive group that includes national champions and hall-of-famers. Of the 12, Harbaugh is just the fifth to return after losing as a player and will look to join the likes of Bob Stoops and John Robinson who, as coaches, won in their first trip to Pasadena as head coaches.
Harbaugh is the third player/coach with Michigan ties to reach the Rose Bowl, and only the second to make both trips as a member of the Wolverines. Pete Elliot reached the granddaddy of them all as a Michigan player and eventually led California and Illinois there as a head coach. Pete’s brother, Bump Elliott, reached the Rose Bowl as both a player and coach for the Wolverines.
Below is a list of every person who has reached the Rose Bowl as both a player and head coach.
Jim Harbaugh (Michigan)
As a player: 0-1; Lost to Arizona State, 22-15, in 1987
As a coach: TBD
Bret Bielema (Iowa, Wisconsin)
As a player: 0-1; Lost to Washington, 46-34, in 1991
As a coach: 0-2*; Lost to TCU, 21-19, in 2011 – Lost to Oregon, 45-38, in 2012 (Wisconsin qualified for a third Rose Bowl under Bielema in 2013, but he left before the game to take the head coaching position at Arkansas)
