Los Angeles Chargers Hire College Football Playoff Champion as Next Head Coach

LOS ANGELES— The Los Angeles Chargers have hired their next head coach who comes with some previous NFL experience and NFL bloodlines.

The Chargers have hired now former Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh to the lead a talented roster with a franchise quarterback built in. Of course, this isn’t Harbaugh’s first NFL head coaching gig as he was the San Francisco 49er’s leader and even took them to a Super Bowl.

Harbaugh’s family is an NFL family with his brother, John Harbaugh, currently leading the Baltimore Ravens back to another deep playoff run that could end with a second championship. The other? It actually came when John’s Ravens beat Jim’s 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII (47) where Baltimore won 34-31.

Harbaugh has had a very successful coaching career after getting drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1987 at 26th overall in the first round. From 1987 until 2001, he played for the Bears, Colts, Ravens, Chargers, Lions, and Panthers, even making the Pro Bowl in 1995 and winning NFL Comeback Player of the Year that same year.

In coaching, Harbaugh probably became a household name for his time at Stanford, where he coaches future NFL talents like running back Toby Gerhart, full back Owen Marecic, wide receivers Doug Baldwin and Griff Whalen, cornerback Richard Sherman, tight ends Coby Fleener and Zach Ertz, quarterback Andrew Luck, and many others.

After his time at Stanford, Harbaugh was hired by San Francisco in 2011 and was incredibly successful by the bay. His time in San Fran came to an unceremonious end and he went on to coach at Michgan where, in 2023, the Wolverines would defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide, in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game 34-13.

Now, Harbaugh is back in the NFL and has a very talented quarterback in Justin Herbert. The Chargers fired Brandon Staley during the 2023 NFL season. Harbaugh gets a trial by fire treatment with division rivals like the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders.