Success coach with dark sides
Los Angeles Chargers bring back Jim Harbaugh
January 25, 2024, 9:09 a.m
The Los Angeles Chargers have hired former player Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach. It is the second stop in the NFL for the reigning national college champions. In the past, he has made negative headlines several times with misdeeds.
The NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers have introduced Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach. The 60-year-old, who led the University of Michigan to the US college championship a few weeks ago, will receive a five-year contract, according to ESPN. Even as a player, Harbaugh was active as quarterback for the Chargers for two seasons. He succeeds Brandon Staley, who was fired during the season and has been in office since 2021. “Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and I can’t think of anyone better to lead the Chargers forward,” said owner Dean Spanos about his new hopeful.
“The only job where you start at the top is digging a hole, so we know we have to earn our way,” Harbaugh said in a statement. “This organization is doing the work – investing capital, building infrastructure and doing everything in its power to win. Great effort leads to great results and we’re just getting started.” As a player, he was on the field for a total of six franchises: Chicago Bears (1987 to 1993), Indianapolis Colts (1993 to 1997), Baltimore Ravens (1998), Chargers (1999 and 2000), Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers (both 2001) .
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It is his second head coaching position in the NFL after he coached the 49ers from 2011 to 2014 and was extremely successful. In his first three years there he always reached the playoffs and after the 2012 season even the Super Bowl, which he lost to the Baltimore Ravens and his brother John. The Niners were in the NFC Championship Game three times in a row before missing the playoffs in 2014 with an 8-8 season.
Great success as a college coach
Harbaugh joins Pete Carroll (USC, Seattle Seahawks) as the only head coaches to appear in both a Super Bowl and a National Championship Game in college football, but Carroll is the only one to win both. However, Harbaugh’s time at Michigan, where he had worked continuously since 2015, also had its downsides. He was suspended twice for three games each for rule violations. In 2020 he missed the start of the season due to violations of recruiting rules, and in 2023 he had to sit out the last three regular season games after an appeal because of stealing the opponent’s hand signals.
At the Chargers, Harbaugh, who was also active in San Diego and Stanford during his college days, will now apparently have the final say when it comes to the composition of the squad. A general manager to succeed the dismissed Tom Telesco has not yet been found.