After a scandalous tail-end of the 2023 college football season, followed by a National Championship title, Jim Harbaugh is making the jump back to pro football following the firing of Brandon Staley.
“I love Michigan, but I love the NFL too,” Harbaugh commented. “There’s no Lombardi in college football. I’ve got so many sands left in the hourglass, and I want to take a crack at that.”
Despite his positive and ambitious remarks, it seems safe to assume this move was at least partially motivated by Michigan’s cheating scandal at the end of their previous season.
Staley, on the other hand, was relieved of his position as head coach due to the Chargers decline over this past season. At the time of his firing, the Chargers had a 5-9 record and had lost five out of their last six games in a row. The last straw came at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders, when the Chargers lost 63-21 on Thursday Night Football. The organization had had enough of the embarrassment and squandered talent, so they decided to start looking for better options.
Harbaugh reportedly took the job as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, where he ended his pro football career as their quarterback in 2000.
He hasn’t worked in the NFL since his stint as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014.
“I was told I wouldn’t be the coach anymore. And then… you can call it ‘mutual,” Harbaugh said about his departure from the 49ers. “I mean, I wasn’t going to put the 49ers in the position to have a coach that they didn’t want anymore.”
His defensive coordinator from Michigan, Jesse Minter, is following him to Los Angeles, filling in the same position.
The Baltimore Ravens director of player personnel, Joe Hortiz, is moving across the country from one Harbaugh to the other to be the Chargers’ new general manager after over 25 seasons with the Ravens.
In Harbaugh’s first interview since leaving Michigan, he told CBS that he was “a little starstruck” when meeting Justin Herbert, current quarterback of the Chargers, for the first time.
With some clear talent, despite ending the 2023 season 5-12, Harbaugh seems optimistic about his return to pro football and his chances at turning this Chargers team around.
Harbaugh leaves Michigan for Los Angeles
After a scandalous tail-end of the 2023 college football season, followed by a National Championship title, Jim Harbaugh is making the jump back to pro football following the firing of Brandon Staley.
“I love Michigan, but I love the NFL too,” Harbaugh commented. “There’s no Lombardi in college football. I’ve got so many sands left in the hourglass, and I want to take a crack at that.”
Despite his positive and ambitious remarks, it seems safe to assume this move was at least partially motivated by Michigan’s cheating scandal at the end of their previous season.
Staley, on the other hand, was relieved of his position as head coach due to the Chargers decline over this past season. At the time of his firing, the Chargers had a 5-9 record and had lost five out of their last six games in a row. The last straw came at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders, when the Chargers lost 63-21 on Thursday Night Football. The organization had had enough of the embarrassment and squandered talent, so they decided to start looking for better options.
Harbaugh reportedly took the job as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, where he ended his pro football career as their quarterback in 2000.
He hasn’t worked in the NFL since his stint as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014.
“I was told I wouldn’t be the coach anymore. And then… you can call it ‘mutual,” Harbaugh said about his departure from the 49ers. “I mean, I wasn’t going to put the 49ers in the position to have a coach that they didn’t want anymore.”
His defensive coordinator from Michigan, Jesse Minter, is following him to Los Angeles, filling in the same position.
The Baltimore Ravens director of player personnel, Joe Hortiz, is moving across the country from one Harbaugh to the other to be the Chargers’ new general manager after over 25 seasons with the Ravens.
In Harbaugh’s first interview since leaving Michigan, he told CBS that he was “a little starstruck” when meeting Justin Herbert, current quarterback of the Chargers, for the first time.
With some clear talent, despite ending the 2023 season 5-12, Harbaugh seems optimistic about his return to pro football and his chances at turning this Chargers team around.