Jim Harbaugh has left Michigan to join the NFL and has been named as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. The 60-year-old had spent the past eight years coaching the Wolverines but has opted to return to the NFL after his stint in college football after winning the national title, Michigan’s first in 26 years.
Last season was a disaster for the Chargers, with the SoFi Stadium team ending the season with a frustrating 5-12 regular season record. Fans of Los Angeles who wish to back them with Harbaugh at the wheel can place a wager with the aid of this DraftKings new user promo that will help make the bet more or less risk-free.
Harbaugh was hit by two suspensions across the college football season, meaning he sat out six of the team’s 15 games and that no doubt played a part in his decision to leave for the NFL, having previously spent three years at the San Francisco 49s in his only other head coach role in the league.
As for Michigan, they have turned to Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator, Sherrone Moore, to fill the vacant slot, a move that Harbaugh himself has stated was the right one to take, “The only person I would want to do the job, I have 100% conviction that he will make us all very proud!!!” Harbaugh said via a text message.
“I have no doubt he will successfully transition from OC to HC — he had that opportunity four times this year, especially PSU, Maryland and OSU. Proof is in the pudding.” Harbaugh added.
The college’s athletic director, Warde Manuel, added that Harbaugh had talked up Sherrone Moore prior to his departure, “Jim talked effusively about Sherrone before the season, after the season and in our conversation on Wednesday and really gave me the insight why he was our choice,”
On the appointment of Harbaugh to the Chargers, Owner Dean Spanos stated, “Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and 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? You don’t build a resume like Jim’s by accident, and you don’t do it by yourself,” Spanos added.
“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.” said John Spanos, President of Football Operations at the Los Angeles Chargers.
In 2023, Brandon Staley found himself in trouble with his side falling to a 5-9 start, and he was duly fired before his interim replacement, Giff Smith, saw out the season with three successive losses.
The Chargers have not reached the Super Bowl since 1994, and though under Norv Turner, things were moving in the right direction, the team has struggled for a number of seasons to achieve a semblance of consistency. Jim Harbaugh may well be the ideal person to correct the situation.