Jim Harbaugh Leaves Michigan After Winning National Title, Joins NFL Team

Jim Harbaugh will be the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

By Brian Jones

Jim Harbaugh is heading back to the NFL. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Chargers announced they have agreed to terms with Harbaugh as their new head coach. Harbaugh joins the Chargers after spending the last nine seasons as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines football team. Earlier this month, the 60-year-old coach led the Wolverines to their first national championship since 1997. 

"Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and I can think of no one better to lead the Chargers forward," Chargers owner 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 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?"

Along with winning a national title at Michigan, Harbaugh led the Wolverines to three consecutive Big Ten championships, four Big Ten East Championships and he was named AP College Football Coach of the Year in 2021. Before joining the Wolverines, Harbaugh was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014. In those four seasons, Harbaugh won 44 games, two NFC West titles and led the team to a Super Bowl appearance during the 2012 season. 

"My love for Michigan, playing there and coming back to coach there, leaves a lasting impact. I'll always be a loyal Wolverine," Harbaugh said in a statement "I'm remarkably fortunate to have been afforded the privilege of coaching at places where life's journey has created strong personal connections for me. From working as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky alongside my father, Jack, and time as an assistant with the Raiders, to being a head coach at USD, Stanford, the 49ers and Michigan — 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. Being back here feels like home, and it's great to see that those things haven't changed.  

The Chargers are hoping that Harbaugh can get them to their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1994 season. The team previously had Brandon Staley as their head coach, but he was fired after a 5-9 start this past year. 

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