Posted on 01/25/2024 11:01:47 AM PST by Red Badger
LOS ANGELES -- Jim Harbaugh is leaving the national champion Michigan Wolverines to coach the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers, the team announced Wednesday.
Harbaugh's deal is for five years, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
"The only job you start at the top is digging a hole, so we know we've got to earn our way," Harbaugh said in a statement. "... This organization is putting in the work -- investing capital, building infrastructure and doing everything within its power to win. Great effort equals great results, and we're just getting started."
Harbaugh was considered among the most desirable candidates in this coaching cycle because of his success in both the college and professional levels. Since his head-coaching career began in 2006 at the University of San Diego, Harbaugh has had success at Stanford and Michigan, and in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers.
There's also Harbaugh's Chargers connection: He played quarterback for the team for two seasons (1999-2000).
"Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and I can think of no one better to lead the Chargers forward," owner Dean Spanos said in a statement. "The son of a coach, brother of a coach and father of a coach who himself was coached by names like Schembechler and Ditka, for the past two decades Jim has led hundreds of men to success everywhere he's been -- as their coach. And today, Jim Harbaugh returns to the Chargers, this time as our coach. Who has it better than us?"
Spanos cited the rallying cry that Harbaugh leaned on during this season at Michigan, when he would yell, "Who's got it better than us?" to players. It's a phrase he got from his father, Jack, as a reminder to be grateful.
WHO'S GOT IT BETTER THAN US??
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 25, 2024 As a collegiate coach, Harbaugh has a 144-42 record, winning three Big Ten championships and Michigan's first national title since 1997 this past season.
He was 86-25 at Michigan and restored college football's winningest program to relevance after it slipped over several seasons under Brady Hoke and Rich Rodriguez following the retirement of national championship-winning coach Lloyd Carr.
The rival Ohio State Buckeyes had an eight-game winning streak against the Wolverines until Harbaugh helped them snap the streak in 2021, leading to their first of three straight Big Ten titles and College Football Playoff appearances.
Jim Harbaugh went 86-25 in his nine seasons as Michigan while leading the Wolverines this season to their first national championship since 1997. Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire Following two straight losses in the semifinals, extending Harbaugh's winless streak in bowl games to six, Michigan outlasted Alabama at the Rose Bowl this past season and pulled away from Washington to win the national championship with a school record 15-0 mark.
"My love for Michigan, playing there and coming back to coach there, leaves a lasting impact. I'll always be a loyal Wolverine," Harbaugh said in his statement. "I'm remarkably fortunate to have been afforded the privilege of coaching at places where life's journey has created strong personal connections for me.
"From working as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky alongside my father, Jack, and time as an assistant with the Raiders, to being a head coach at USD, Stanford, the 49ers and Michigan -- each of those opportunities carried significance, each felt personal. When I played for the Chargers, the Spanos family could not have been more gracious or more welcoming. Being back here feels like home, and it's great to see that those things haven't changed."
Despite the ultimate triumph at Michigan, 2023 was a season filled with adversity for Harbaugh, who served two three-game suspensions. He missed the first three games due to an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations in 2020, and he missed the final three games of the regular season following a sign-stealing scandal and the subsequent resignation of staff member Connor Stalions.
In statements, University of Michigan president Santa Ono and athletic director Warde Manuel both said the Wolverines' program had discussed a new contract that would have made Harbaugh the highest-paid coach in college football.
Harbaugh spent four seasons (2011-2014) as the 49ers' head coach, being named the NFL's Coach of the Year in his first season. He led the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII, where they lost to the Baltimore Ravens, coached by his brother John.
Harbaugh left the 49ers with a 44-19-1 regular record.
The Chargers are scheduled to play the Ravens next season at SoFi Stadium, which now officially will be a matchup between John and Jim Harbaugh.
When Harbaugh took over the 49ers, he was rebuilding a team which had tumbled from the NFL's elite and missed the playoffs for eight straight seasons.
He will have a similar challenge with the Chargers, who finished 5-12 this season and have three playoff wins since 2008. Another task for Harbaugh will be deciding the construction of the Chargers' roster, as the team is projected to be $27.5 million over the league salary cap, according to ESPN's roster management system.
Harbaugh and the Chargers had been linked since the offseason began. Still, one of the potential challenges for the Harbaugh-Chargers reunion was if Spanos was willing to pay Harbaugh a competitive salary, one that would lure him away from Michigan and other NFL teams.
While the Chargers have signed players to record-breaking contracts, the organization has developed a reputation for not paying coaches. The Spanoses have denied that claim, with team president John Spanos telling reporters in December that he didn't know where "narratives came from" and that the team has never had limitations with spending.
"You don't build a résumé like Jim's by accident, and you don't do it by yourself," Chargers president John Spanos said in a statement. "You need a team. And nobody has built a team more successfully, and repeatedly, in recent history than Jim Harbaugh. His former players swear by him, and his opponents swear at him. Jim is one of one."
The Chargers fired coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco on Dec. 15, following a 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15.
Now that the Chargers have found their on-field leader, they now turn their focus to the front office and hiring a general manager, a role that will be essential for Harbaugh's comfort with the team. In his last NFL stint, Harbaugh reportedly clashed with 49ers general manager Trent Baalke and team management, leading to his departure for Michigan.
The Chargers interviewed nine candidates for GM, including multiple with Harbaugh ties, such as Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds who worked for the Raiders when Harbaugh was the team's QB coach in 2003. The Chargers conducted a second interview with Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown on Tuesday, sources told Jeremy Fowler.
Yeah I think you mean UF but that’s not what meant.
Spurrier also coached at Duke and Meyer of course Ohio state.
It’s a different game in the pros and some college coaches can’t handle it.
When Meyer was with the Jags he once kicked a player during practice that he felt wasn’t performing.....how he stayed out of jail and didn’t get sued for assault is beyond me. 🤷
You mean when he took San Francisco to the Super Bowl with Colin Kraperdick for a QB?
Coaching college ‘kids’ is way different than the grown seasoned players in the NFL.
And yes Meyer should have been charged with assault. But the NFL probably wanted it to just go away..............
I can’t believe the NFLPA didn’t get involved....probably got their hands full handling player sexual assault and illegal substance issues 😁
I thought it was crap-on-neck
I gave up my season tickets at Levis when the 49ers canned Harbaugh and replaced him with some guy named Tomsula - still the dumbest week of NFL ownership I’ve ever seen. Harbaugh wins consistently at every level. He will be the best coach the Chargers have had since Don Coryell, at least.
I think so. Michigan may be in big trouble with the NCAA. Would not be surprised if they get what USC got. Vacate everything. Everyone is abandoning the sinking ship.
Under coach John McKay, the USC Trojans went to seven Rose Bowl Games and won five, won three National Championships, and went 10-5-1 against crosstown rival UCLA and 8-6-2 against national rival Notre Dame. He remains a legend among Trojan fans. However, in 1975, he left LA to become the first coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was a total flop. Saturday's hero became Sunday's nobody. McKay later remarked that leaving USC was the worst mistake he made in his life.
He got them to the NFC Championship Game in 1979, losing 9-0 to the Rams.
I think you will learn it is far more than that. Videoing 30 B1G games over two years. Teams complaining when they changed plays M always changing to the correct D. Indicates M used the videos, analyzed the video, incorporated into game plans. All of which Harbaugh denied any knowledge of. Pinned on some low level staffer. The cover-up may be worse than the crime. Plus illegal practices during COVID, and recruiting violations. Oh, and the assistant arrested for try to hookup with a 13 y/o (fbi). Pretty f’ed up program.
I’ve lived in Florida almost all my life and I remember McKay well.
On the sideline he looked more like a retiree than an nfl head coach......and when he got here that’s what he shoulda come here for.
He was entertaining though.
McKay’s most famous quote, bar none, was in answer to the question: “What do you think of your team’s execution coach?” To which McKay replied, “I’m in favor of it.”
“We didn’t tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking.”
On a comment that quarterback Steve Spurrier throws one of three passes into the ground: “That’s OK, we’ll just get shorter receivers.”
LoL. Miss the old ball coach.
And says nobody else with a functioning brain.
OSU has got problems, they start and end at the top.
“OSU has got problems, they start and end at the top.”
There are problems for sure. There is no excuse for that bowl game disaster vs. Mizzou, none. That was on the coach, simple as that.
McCord had issues. First, he was a diva. He wanted to be guaranteed to be the starter in 2024. Second, he was a statue. If he was given a decent pocket, with reasonable time, he made good throws. If the pocket got messy, he didn’t escape, didn’t make good decisions. His legs never bought yards for a first down. In today’s CFB, an immobile QB is poison.
His turnaround of the 49ers was remarkable. Only his brother could stop him.
They didn’t speak for 6 months!...................
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