American football coachesPete Carroll andJim Harbaugh have had a noted rivalry, having coached teams against each other in bothcollege football and theNational Football League (NFL).
The rivalry started in 2007 when Harbaugh became the head coach of theStanford Cardinal football team, which competed in thePac-10 Conference against the Carroll-ledUSC Trojans football team. The two later competed regularly against each other in the NFL'sNFC Westdivision, with Carroll coaching theSeattle Seahawks (2010–2023) and Harbaugh coaching theSan Francisco 49ers (2011–2014). As of the2025 NFL season, the rivalry is expected to resume in theAFC West, with Carroll coaching theLas Vegas Raiders and Harbaugh coaching theLos Angeles Chargers.
The rivalry has been well-documented in several sources.[1][2] In 2013, sports columnistMike Freeman ofBleacher Report called it "the best rivalry in the NFL",[3] while sportscasterAdam Schein called them both each other's "greatest rival" in a 2014 article forNFL.com.[4]
Pete Carroll was hired as thehead coach of theUSC Trojans football team in December 2000.[5] Prior to this, he had held several coaching positions in bothcollege football and theNational Football League (NFL), serving as the head coach for theNew England Patriots and theNew York Jets for several years in the 1990s.[5] In December 2006,Jim Harbaugh was hired as the head coach of theStanford Cardinal football team.[6] Harbaugh had had experience as both aquarterback—both in college for theMichigan Wolverines football team and with multiple teams in the NFL—and a coach, most recently leading theSan Diego Toreros football team in theNational Collegiate Athletic Association'sDivision I-AA.[6] With the hire, Carroll and Harbaugh would compete against each other, as both teams were members of thePac-10 Conference and played against each other annually as part of a longstanding rivalry.[7]
While Harbaugh was a starting quarterback in the NFL, he competed in eight games against teams that had Carroll on their coaching staff.[8] Teams with Carroll on their staff recorded a win-loss record of5–3 in these games.[8]
As head coaches, the two had their first game against each other in the2007 season, when the Trojans hosted the Cardinal.[8] USC was experiencing a 35-game winning streak at home and were expected to have ablowout victory, withspread betting odds favoring the Trojans a point spread of between 39 and 41.5 points.[8] However, the Cardinal defeated the Trojans24–23 in one of the largest point-spreadupsets in college football history.[8][9]The following season, Stanford hosted USC in a game won by the Trojans 45–23.[10] According to David Leon Moore ofUSA Today, the game saw "some oddgamesmanship" in the closing moments.[10] Ingarbage time, Carroll attempted toice the kicker during afield goal attempt from Stanford.[10] Following this, Harbaugh opted against repeating the field goal attempt and instead directed the team to score anothertouchdown, which they did.[10]
In 2009, Carroll's and Harbaugh's teams met for the first time with both having winning records.[9] In a blowout win, Stanford defeated USC with a final score of 55–21, breaking the record for the most points any team had ever scored against USC in a single game.[9] Towards the end of the game, Harbaugh's team attempted torun up the score by attempting atwo-point conversion instead of anextra point kick.[9] As a result, during the coaches' post-game handshake at midfield, Carroll asked Harbaugh, "What's your deal? You all right?", to which Harbaugh replied, "Yeah, I'm good. What's your deal?".[10] Carroll then turned and said "Nice game".[10] According to Marcel Davis ofBleacher Report, this post-game interaction "put the microscope on every one of their meetings".[9] At the end of the season, Carroll stepped down as the Trojans' head coach.[10] In a 2014 article on the two coaches, Moore stated, "Harbaugh's upstart Stanford program helped end Carroll'sUniversity of Southern Californiadynasty".[10]
Carroll departed from USC in January 2010,[11] accepting an offer to become the head coach for the NFL'sSeattle Seahawks.[10] Meanwhile, Harbaugh remained the Cardinal's head coach for the2010 season before accepting a head coaching position with the NFL'sSan Francisco 49ers.[10] As in their college coaching careers, the two were guaranteed to meet each other on an annual basis, as both teams were in theNFC Westdivision.[10] As a result, the rivalry recommenced for the2011 NFL season.[9] When taking over as head coach, Harbaugh reportedly told 49ers CEOJed York that he was ready to beat Carroll again.[12] In both teams' season openers and the first time that the two coaches had faced each other in the NFL, Harbaugh's 49ers defeated Carroll's Seahawks 33–17.[9] Carroll's first win against Harbaugh would comethe following season.[9]
While the 49ers were one of the most successful teams in the NFC West during their first few seasons under Harbaugh, Davis reported early in the2013 season that Carroll's Seahawks had supplanted them as the division's premier team.[9] In the2013–14 NFL playoffs, the two teams met in the NFC Championship Game.[10] The Seahawks won with a score of23–17, advancing toSuper Bowl XLVIII.[13] In June 2014, during atown hall meeting, Carroll responded to a reporter's question about his rivalry with Harbaugh by saying, "I think Jim's a great coach. I've watched him in college, I've watched him in San Francisco. He's done a great job molding the style of play and he's a big force in our division … and we love beating him."[14] This NFC West rivalry lasted through the2014 season, after which Harbaugh accepted the head coaching position for theMichigan Wolverines football team.[15] After their final matchup between their two teams on December 14, Harbaugh and Carroll shook hands and had a cordial conversation on the field. One close observer reported that Harbaugh told Carroll "thanks for the rivalry. It’s been fun."[16]
Carroll worked with the Seahawks until retiring after the2023 season.[2]
Prior to the start of the2024 season, Harbaugh returned to the NFL when he accepted the head coaching position for theLos Angeles Chargers.[2] Following that season, the Las Vegas Raiders announced that they had hired Carroll as their new head coach, to start in the2025 season.[17] As both teams compete in the AFC West division,Reuters reported on the hiring by saying that Carroll would "resume a long rivalry" with Harbaugh.[17]
As of September 15, 2025
| Accomplishment | Carroll | Harbaugh |
|---|---|---|
| Head-to-head wins | 5 | 5 |
| Super Bowls | 1 | 0 |
| Super Bowl app. | 2 | 1 |
| Playoff app. | 12 | 4 |
| Division titles | 6 | 2 |
| Regular season record | 170–120–1 (.586) | 55–25–1 (.685) |
| Playoff record | 11–11 (.500) | 5–4 (.556) |
| Accomplishment | Carroll | Harbaugh |
|---|---|---|
| Head-to-head wins | 1 | 2 |
| National titles | 2 | 1 |
| Conference titles | 7 | 5 |
| Overall record | 97–19 (.836) | 144–52 (.735) |
| Bowl record | 7–2 (.778) | 5–7 (.417) |
As of September 15, 2025
| Season | Date | Carroll | Result | Harbaugh | Location | Series | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | October 6 | No. 2 USC | 23–24 | Stanford | Los Angeles | Harbaugh 1–0 | 2007 Stanford vs. USC football game: First meeting between the two as head coaches.[18] |
| 2008 | November 15 | No. 6 USC | 45–23 | Stanford | Stanford | Tied 1–1 | |
| 2009 | November 14 | No. 9 USC | 21–55 | Stanford | Los Angeles | Harbaugh 2–1 | "What's your deal?" game with confrontation in postgame handshake. Last college meeting. |
| 2011 | September 11 | Seahawks | 17–33 | 49ers | San Francisco | Harbaugh 3–1 | First NFL meeting. |
| December 24 | Seahawks | 17–19 | 49ers | Seattle | Harbaugh 4–1 | ||
| 2012 | October 18 | Seahawks | 6–13 | 49ers | San Francisco | Harbaugh 5–1 | |
| December 23 | Seahawks | 42–13 | 49ers | Seattle | Harbaugh 5–2 | Largest margin of victory in the NFL. Harbaugh's birthday. | |
| 2013 | September 15 | Seahawks | 29–3 | 49ers | Seattle | Harbaugh 5–3 | |
| December 8 | Seahawks | 17–19 | 49ers | San Francisco | Harbaugh 6–3 | ||
| 2013–14 playoffs | January 19 | No. 1 Seahawks | 23–17 | No. 5 49ers | Seattle | Harbaugh 6–4 | The Tip (American football): Only playoff matchup between the two. |
| 2014 | November 27 | Seahawks | 19–3 | 49ers | Santa Clara | Harbaugh 6–5 | Thanksgiving game. |
| December 14 | Seahawks | 17–7 | 49ers | Seattle | Tied 6–6 | Last meeting asNFC West rivals. | |
| 2025 | September 15 | Raiders | 9–20 | Chargers | Paradise | Harbaugh 7–6 | First meeting asAFC West rivals. Carroll's birthday. |
| November 30 | Raiders | TBD | Chargers | Inglewood | TBD |
| |
| Franchise | |
| Stadiums | |
| Culture | |
| Lore | |
| Rivalries | |
| Wild card berths (5) | |
| Division championships (15) | |
| Conference championships (1) | |
| League championships (1) | |
| Media | |
| Current league affiliations |
|
| Former league affiliation |
|
