SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — These days, Jack Harbaugh stays away from game-planning chatter or strategy sessions with his Super Bowl-bound coaching sons. Baltimore’s John Harbaugh and little brother, Jim, of the San Francisco 49ers, have been doing this long enough now to no longer need dad’s input.

Yet, the father does offer one basic mantra: “Get ahead, stay ahead.” And the boys still call home regularly to check in with the man who turned both on to the coaching profession years ago, and the mother who has handled everything behind the scenes for decades in a highly competitive, sports-crazed family — with all the routine sports clichés to show for it.

The Harbaugh brothers will become the first siblings to square off from opposite sidelines when their teams play for the NFL championship Feb. 3 at the New Orleans Superdome.