The Los Angeles Chargers, who finished the 2023 season with a 5-12 record, on Wednesday announced the hiring of Jim Harbaugh as the team’s next coach.
Harbaugh, 60, won college football’s national championship Jan. 8 with Michigan, his alma mater, where he had been head coach since 2015. This marks his return to the NFL; he coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14, taking the team to the 2013 Super Bowl.
He also had a local stop, serving as head coach at the University of San Diego before departing for Stanford after the 2006 season.
In addition, the former quarterback played for six teams, including the Chargers, then still in San Diego, from 1999-2000.
Team owner and chairman Dean Spanos, in a statement, called Harbaugh “football personified,” adding that “I can think of no one better to lead the Chargers forward.”
“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 said.
Harbaugh, in the statement, said he would “always be a loyal Wolverine,” and named a number of his career stops – as assistant coach at Western Kentucky alongside his father, Jack, time as an assistant with the Raiders and his stints as a head coach, saying “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,” he said. “Being back here feels like home, and it’s great to see that those things haven’t changed.”
Harbaugh’s championship season with Michigan was marred by a pair of three-game suspensions he served. The first was a self-imposed suspension at the beginning of the season for alleged recruiting violations, while the second came at the end of the season due to a Big Ten sign-stealing probe.
The NCAA’s investigation into the latter continues, with Michigan and Harbaugh still facing possible sanctions.
Harbaugh’s brother, John, is head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, the AFC’s top seed and a Super Bowl favorite this year.
Harbaugh will replace Brandon Staley, who was fired in mid-December as the Chargers season unraveled; general manager Tom Telesco also lost his job.
Staley, hired by the Chargers in 2021, had a record of 24- 24. Telesco has been the general manager since 2013, when the team was still in San Diego.
The Chargers have had high expectations since quarterback Justin Herbert took over the offense, but the team has persistently under-performed. The team has not appeared in a playoff game since 2018.
In his statement Wednesday, Harbaugh acknowledged the struggles, saying “we know we’ve got to earn our way.”
“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.”
— City News Service contributed to this report.
