Ingrid Harbaugh, self-proclaimed bird nerd, was in her suburban Baltimore yard when her Merlin app identified the first-time visitor flying alone as a common raven.A few days later, right before her husband’s football team played the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC North title, Ingrid was stopped at a traffic light when she saw the very same bird.“It was huge, and when it was swooping down, I thought it was going to hit the windshield,” she recalled in February. “It swooped over the car, and I looked in the rearview mirror and saw it sitting behind me in the street. I drove off with the bird sitting there before it flew off above the traffic.“I said to John, ‘I wonder if that means the Ravens are in the rearview mirror, already behind us.’”John Harbaugh wondered whether he had his own sign that the end of an 18-year run was near. He was reading the Book of Acts a couple of days before that win-or-else game in Pittsburgh when this New Testament line struck him: “His office let another take.”Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti took Harbaugh’s office after that 26-24 loss to the Steelers, and Harbaugh immediately turned his attention to the New York Giants. Even before he was fired, Harbaugh had ranked the Giants as his top choice among the teams expected to pursue him if he left Baltimore.Harbaugh was aware the Giants had held internal discussions about his possible candidacy before their seasons had ended. He wanted them, and they wanted him."King of New York": Where does the moniker come from?Law Murray and Johnny SweetBrian Daboll’s Giants were 13-38 over the last three years, and Harbaugh’s Ravens were 33-18. The Giants were 60 games under .500 over the last nine years, and Harbaugh was 41 games over .500 with Baltimore. The Giants have won only one playoff game over the last 14 years; Harbaugh had claimed eight of his 13 postseason victories, including a Super Bowl, in that time.It seemed the perfect union of a coach who adored NFL history and a flagship franchise that had completely forgotten how to win. The Giants had past champs like Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning and Michael Strahan to sell Harbaugh on the glories of winning it all in New York. They had longtime senior executive Chris Mara to hold two private in-person meetings with Harbaugh and to persuade his brother, John, to give the coach the direct report to ownership he needed to take the job.“We are going to compete for the playoffs and for championships,” John Harbaugh told The Athletic a half-hour after accepting. “I expect and want to make the playoffs next year.”