After nine seasons of coaching and delivering a National Championship for his alma mater, the University of Michigan, Jim Harbaugh has decided to return to the NFL. This time Harbaugh has chosen to coach for a different California team in the Los Angeles Chargers.
In his NFL playing career, Jim Harbaugh was the starting quarterback for the Chargers in the 1999 season. This time Harbaugh will be on the sidelines for the Chargers, hoping to achieve success as their head coach.
In Harbaugh’s previous NFL coaching stint he saw a good amount of success in San Francisco. Jim Harbaugh was the coach of the 49ers from 2011-2014 totaling an overall record of 44-19-1. During his tenure, Harbuagh led the Niners to three NFC championship appearances and a superbowl appearance in 2012.
After the 2014 season Harbuagh decided to take a break from the NFL and join his alma mater college, the University of Michigan. In his nine seasons for the Wolverines, Harbaugh had a total record of 86-25.
This includes three straight College Football Playoff appearances from 2021-2023. Harbaugh also brought a National Championship to Michigan, a feature they had not achieved since 1997.
In Harbaugh’s two most recent coaching tenures he saw great accomplishments for programs that needed to win. Harbaugh immediately changed the fortune for the teams in only his first year both times.
In 2010 the 49ers were 6-10 and missed the playoff but immediately after hiring Harbuagh, San Francisco goes 13-3 and makes the NFC championship. In 2014 Michigan went 5-7 and missed a bowl game. The next season after hiring Harbaugh, the Wolverines finish 10-3 and ranked in the top 15.
The Chargers are in desperate need of a winner and hiring Harbaugh may lead to immediate results that he saw with his last two teams he coached for.
Los Angeles went 5-12 in the 2023 season and have only seen the playoffs once in the last five years. The Chargers struggles go much deeper than just last season but for the last ten seasons.
From the 2014 season to present day the Chargers have had three coaches in Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn and Brandon Staley. In these ten season, the Chargers have only one playoff victory.
The Chargers have not had a coach last longer than four seasons since Norv Turner who coached from 2007-2012.
The Chargers are hiring Harbaugh in hopes of bringing something that this organization has not seen much of and that is consistent success, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
In the last five season the Chargers have never ranked in the top 10 of points allowed per game. Fortunately Jim Harbaugh teams have been known for their stout defense.
In Harbaugh’s three NFC championship runs with the Niners, San Francisco were top in the league for fewest points allowed per game.
As for Harbaugh’s National Championship season with Michigan, the Wolverines allowed the fewest amount of points in college football with only 10.4 points per game.
The Chargers need a leader and a winner as the head coach. Jim Harbaugh has shown that he can win at different levels of football.
Jim Harbaugh provides the organization some hope to eventually win their first Superbowl in franchise history. Only time will tell in how much success the Chargers will achieve with Jim Harbaugh.
