Chargers hire Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach
Jim Harbaugh is headed back to the NFL.
The Los Angeles Chargers have agreed to a five-year deal with Harbaugh, who led the University of Michigan to a national championship earlier this month, to become their next head coach, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported on Wednesday. The team later announced Harbaugh's hiring.
Rapoport added that Harbaugh, 60, received an offer from Michigan that would have made him the highest-paid coach in college football, but chose to helm the Chargers.
"Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and I can think of no one better to lead the Chargers forward," Chargers owner and chairman of the board Dean Spanos said in a statement. "The son of a coach, brother of a coach and father of a coach who himself was coached by names like [Bo] Schembechler and [Mike] 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?"
A return to the NFL has long been speculated for Harbaugh after he spent the past two offseasons interviewing with the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos, respectively.
Harbaugh has seen success at every stop in his coaching career, including the four seasons he spent with the San Francisco 49ers, whom he led to wins in nearly 70% of his games (44-19-1) from 2011-2014. During that run last decade under Harbaugh, the Niners went to three consecutive NFC Championship Games and advanced to Super Bowl XLVII, where they lost to the Ravens and Harbaugh's brother, John. Coincidentally, the Ravens are on the Chargers 2024 schedule, with L.A. set to host the brotherly matchup.
Prior to his time on the
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