Harbaughs love to 'grind the meat, rattle the molars'

NEW ORLEANS -- For the Harbaugh brothers, there's no better time than Super Bowl XLVII to "grind the meat and rattle the molars."

San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has uttered that phrase this week, and his brother John, the Baltimore Ravens coach, unpacked its meaning during Thursday's media session.

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Its roots date back to the Harbaugh family's well-publicized and longstanding obsession with Bo Schembechler, the iconic University of Michigan coach who spoke those words repeatedly on the gridiron.

"That's straight Jerry Hanlon, Bo Schembechler, you know, Michigan, Big West, Big Ten football," John said. "That goes back to the roots. But, when Michigan would be ahead, I know Bo would be on the headphones with Jerry and say, 'It's time to grind some meat.' That would mean it's time to run the ball. It's four-minute offense, you know, they'd run that off-tackle play. And rattle the molars, you know, that's coming off the ball, that's trench warfare for football upfront. That's football."

And that's certainly the case for both the Ravens and 49ers. San Francisco has made waves with its Pistol offense and Baltimore rolls into Sunday with a passing attack operating at high levels, but both teams -- squads Bo would be proud of -- know how to pound the ball, and love to do so.

Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.