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Sources: Jim Harbaugh accepts head-coaching job with Chargers


Kris Rhim, ESPN
Jan 24, 2024, 06:49 PM ET
LOS ANGELES -- Jim Harbaugh is leaving the national champion Michigan Wolverines to accept the head coaching job with the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Wednesday.

Harbaugh has agreed to a five-year deal with the Chargers, sources told ESPN.

Harbaugh was considered among the Chargers' most desirable candidates in this coaching cycle because of his success at every level. Since his head coaching career began in 2006 at the University of San Diego, Harbaugh has had success at stops at Stanford, Michigan and in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers.

There's also Harbaugh's Chargers connection: he played quarterback for the team for two seasons (1999-2000).

As a collegiate coach, Harbaugh has a 144-42 record, winning three Big Ten championships and Michigan's first national title since 1997.

He was 86-25 at Michigan and restored college football's winningest program to relevance after it slipped over several seasons under Brady Hoke and Rich Rodriguez following the retirement of national-championship winning coach Lloyd Carr.

The rival Ohio State Buckeyes had an eight-game winning streak against the Wolverines until Harbaugh helped them snap the streak in 2021, leading to their first of three straight Big Ten titles and College Football Playoff appearances.

Following two straight losses in the semifinals, extending Harbaugh's winless streak in bowl games to six, Michigan outlasted Alabama at the Rose Bowl and pulled away from Washington to win the national championship with a school-record 15-0 mark this season.

Despite the ultimate triumph, it was a season filled with adversity for Harbaugh, who served two three-game suspensions in 2023. He missed the first three games due to an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations in 2020, and he missed the final three games of the regular season following a sign-stealing scandal and the subsequent dismissal of staff member Connor Stalions.

Harbaugh spent four seasons (2011-14) as the coach of the 49ers from 2011 to 2014, and he was named the NFL's Coach of the Year in his first season. He led the 49ers to the Super Bowl XLVII, where they lost to the Baltimore Ravens who were coached by his brother John.

Harbaugh left the 49ers after the 2014 season with a 44-19-1 regular record.

The Chargers are scheduled to play the Ravens next season at SoFi Stadium, which now officially will be a matchup between John and Jim Harbaugh.

When Harbaugh took over the 49ers, he was rebuilding a team which had tumbled from the NFL's elite and missed the playoffs for eight straight seasons.

He will have a similar challenge with the Chargers, who finished 5-12 last season and have three playoff wins since 2008. Another task for Harbaugh will be deciding the construction of the Chargers' roster next season, as this team is projected to be $27.5 million over the league salary cap, according to ESPN's roster management system.

Harbaugh and the Chargers had been linked since the offseason began. Still, one of the potential challenges for the Harbaugh-Chargers reunion was if owner Dean Spanos was willing to pay Harbaugh a competitive salary, one that would lure him away from Michigan and other NFL teams.

While the Chargers have signed players to record-breaking contracts, the organization has developed a reputation for not paying coaches. The Spanos' have denied that claim, with team president John Spanos telling reporters in December that he didn't know where "narratives came from" and that the team has never had limitations with spending.

The Chargers fired coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco on Dec. 15, following a 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15.

The Chargers held an extensive search after firing Staley, interviewing a league-high 15 candidates. They began internally with interim head coach Giff Smith and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore before interviewing former Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, Raiders DC Patrick Graham, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, former Titans coach Mike Vrabel, former Stanford coach David Shaw, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Ravens defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald.

Staley finished his 48-game Chargers tenure with a .500 record, with one playoff appearance that ended in a historic loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.


https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39380148/sources-jim-harbaugh-accepts-head-coaching-job-chargers

I guess an immunity clause in his contract at Michigan wasn't on the table.

This is even more evidence why most NFL team owners aren't putting former RB's in charge of making executive decisions in NFL FO's across the league.

49ers' Kyle Shanahan decides to fire defensive coordinator Steve Wilks

SANTA CLARA, Calif. —

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan announced Wednesday on an impromptu conference call that he has fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

The 54-year-old coach's tenure with the team ends after one season following the departure of DeMeco Ryans, who became the head coach of the Houston Texans. This news also comes one day after Shanahan told reporters that he expected all of his assistant coaches to return for next season.

https://www.ksbw.com/article/49ers-...fensive-coordinator-steve-wilks/46790932

I found it odd that one day Shannahan seemed to go to lengths to support Wilkes, then can him the next day.

Seems a little backasswards in the way that whole deal fell. It makes me wonder if something happened between the two events? Maybe some words between the two coaches? Maybe a "nudge" from management?

Wilks' career has really been on quite the roller coaster since 2018.

It wouldn't be the first time that's happened. Often times it seems that when a HC has to go public to support his staff it's right before people get fired. You know the old saying. "They love you until they don't".