The Los Angeles Chargers today agreed to terms with Jim Harbaugh as head coach. A former quarterback for the Chargers during the 1999 and 2000 seasons, Harbaugh spent the past nine years at his alma mater as head football coach for the University of Michigan. Harbaugh rejoins the Chargers after having led Michigan to three consecutive Big Ten Championships, three straight appearances in the College Football Playoff and a perfect 15-0 record this past season that saw the Wolverines crowned 2023 National Champions.
“Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and I can think of no one better to lead the Chargers forward,” said Owner and Chairman of the Board Dean Spanos. “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?”
“You don’t build a resume like Jim’s by accident, and you don’t do it by yourself,” said President of Football Operations John Spanos. “You need a team. And nobody has built a team more successfully, and repeatedly, in recent history than Jim Harbaugh. His former players swear by him, and his opponents swear at him. Jim is one of one, and we couldn’t be more excited to have him back in the Chargers organization as our head coach.”
Harbaugh brings with him a winning culture, posting a 144-52 record as a collegiate head coach and a 49-22-1 record as an NFL head coach. In four years, he led the San Francisco 49ers to three-straight NFC Championship Games, including an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII.
With a keen eye for talent and an ability to develop players, Harbaugh coached nine eventual first-round selections over his nine-season tenure at Michigan (2015-23). Over the course of his four seasons (2011-14) with San Francisco, Harbaugh coached 17 players to a combined 30 Pro Bowl selections — the second-most Pro Bowlers in the NFL in that time. Eight of those players were also recognized as first-team All-Pro selections from The Associated Press, including linebackers Patrick Willis (twice) and NaVorro Bowman (three times).
