Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers reach an agreement to become head coach
Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers reached a deal today for Harbaugh to become head coach. Harbaugh, who played quarterback for the Chargers in 1999 and 2000, has been the head football coach at the University of Michigan for the last nine years. Harbaugh is a graduate of Stanford University. After leading Michigan to three straight Big Ten titles, three straight College Football Playoff berths, and a perfect 15-0 record this past season that saw the Wolverines declared 2023 National Champions, Harbaugh has returned to the Chargers.
Owner and board chairman Dean Spanos stated, “Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and I can think of no one better to lead the Chargers forward.” “Over the past 20 years, Jim has trained hundreds of guys to success wherever he has been. He is a coach’s son, brother, and father who was personally coached by Schembechler and Ditka. Jim Harbaugh rejoins the Chargers today, this time in the role of head coach. Who is in a better place than us?
“A CV such as Jim’s is not something that just happens, nor is it something you do on your own,” stated John Spanos, President of Football Operations. “A team is necessary. And in recent memory, no one has assembled a club more well and consistently than Jim Harbaugh. Both his opponents and his former teammates curse at him. Jim is one of them, and we are ecstatic to have him back as our head coach with the Chargers.”
Having led university teams to a 144-52 record and the NFL to a 49-22-1 record, Harbaugh brings with him a winning culture. He guided the San Francisco 49ers to three consecutive NFC Championship games in just four years, and he even made an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII.
Throughout his nine-season stint at Michigan (2015–23), Harbaugh developed nine players that were ultimately selected in the first round, demonstrating his talent recognition and player development skills. In his four seasons (2011–14) in San Francisco, Harbaugh guided 17 players to a total of 30 selections to the Pro Bowl, which at the time was the second-highest number in the NFL. The Associated Press also named eight of those players—including linebackers Patrick Willis (twice) and NaVorro Bowman (three times)—to the first team All-Pro.
“My affection for Michigan endures since I played there and returned to coach there. I will always be a devoted Wolverine,” Brady declared. “I consider myself extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to coach in settings where my life’s path has forged meaningful personal bonds with me. Every opportunity I had, from being an assistant coach at Western Kentucky with my father Jack and working as an assistant with the Raiders to being a head coach at USD, Stanford, the 49ers, and Michigan, felt significant and intimate. The Spanos family was the most kind and welcoming to me throughout my time as a Chargers player. Returning here feels like coming home, and it’s wonderful that those things haven’t altered.
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