The Los Angeles Chargers agreed to phrases with Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday to be the franchise’s subsequent head coach. Harbaugh joins the Chargers weeks after main Michigan to its first nationwide title in 26 years. Harbaugh, 60, returns to the NFL a decade after he spent 4 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers (2011-2014), who he led to a Tremendous Bowl look.
Taking a more in-depth look, Chargers reporter Kris Rhim solutions 4 huge questions in regards to the Harbaugh hiring, together with what comes subsequent. Nationwide reporter Dan Graziano dishes on what he is listening to in regards to the rent, draft analyst Jordan Reid spins it ahead to the draft and entrance workplace analyst Mike Tannenbaum grades the rent.
Why did the Chargers select Harbaugh?
Rhim: In proprietor Dean Spanos’ solely public feedback since firing coach Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco, he mentioned that the Chargers had been “clearly not the place we count on to be … and we want new imaginative and prescient. Doing nothing within the identify of continuity was not a threat I used to be prepared to take.”
Spanos making an in-season firing — the second in crew historical past — exhibits the urgency that the 73-year-old has to win and his perception within the Chargers possibilities to take action. Harbaugh was one of many prime choices of this cycle, with a historical past of turning middling groups into contenders, and he is aware of the group, enjoying quarterback for the Chargers for 2 seasons (1999-2000).
What made Harbaugh profitable with the 49ers, and can that carry over to LA?
Rhim: When Harbaugh joined the 49ers, they had been a crew that had fallen from the league’s elite, lacking the playoffs for eight straight seasons. In Harbaugh’s first crew assembly, he informed gamers he would “burn the grass” to “eliminate the snakes,” former 49ers tight finish Delanie Walker informed the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast.
“We had been horrible as a result of we simply partied each evening and did what we needed,” Walker mentioned. “Everyone began to vary round with Jim.”
The modifications shortly confirmed on the sector. The 49ers went from 6-10 within the season earlier than Harbaugh to 13-3 and an NFC Championship Sport look. Harbaugh’s method might be efficient with a Chargers crew that crew sources described as disconnected and missing accountability for 3 seasons below Staley.
What’s Harbaugh’s first precedence as head coach?
Rhim: Determining whom he will likely be teaching. Exterior of Justin Herbert and a choose few different gamers, this Chargers roster may look vastly totally different, as they head into the offseason $27.5 million over the wage cap, in line with ESPN’s roster administration system. The largest selections Harbaugh must make is surrounding outdoors linebackers Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa and receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, who all have cap hits upward of $30 million subsequent season. Williams and Allen each expressed that they want to stay with the Chargers, with Allen saying he would think about retiring if not.
Allen set the Chargers single-season report for receptions in simply 13 video games this season with 108, and had 1,243 yards, the second most in his profession. Mack had a career-high 17 sacks, second finest within the NFL.
Why did the Chargers rent a brand new coach earlier than bringing on a brand new GM?
Rhim: Harbaugh’s tenure with the 49ers was plagued by studies of his rigidity and fractured relationship with administration. Months after the 49ers introduced that they’d mutually parted methods with Harbaugh on the evening of the 49ers’ remaining sport, Harbaugh informed the San Jose Mercury Information that he was “informed I would not be the coach anymore” and that he “did not go away the 49ers. I felt just like the 49er hierarchy left me.”
The Chargers may wish to contain Harbaugh within the course of of choosing a common supervisor that he’ll get together with to keep away from any conflicts. The Chargers have already begun interviewing candidates for GM, together with a number of with Harbaugh ties, akin to Indianapolis Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds who labored for the Raiders when Harbaugh was the crew’s QB coach in 2003.
Stephen A.: Chargers made the sensible transfer to rent Harbaugh
Stephen A. Smith explains why he sees Jim Harbaugh as the suitable rent to be the top coach of the Chargers.
Who’s a GM that the Chargers may goal, and will work successfully with Harbaugh?
Graziano: New York Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown was in Los Angeles on Wednesday for a second interview for the GM job, and Harbaugh was nonetheless there. So it is potential — seemingly, even — that Harbaugh was concerned within the interview. If that is the case, clearly a part of the explanation can be to get a way of how the 2 get alongside and the way their visions for the way forward for the franchise align. Brown has probability to get the job.
One other candidate to look at is Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds, who has been related with Harbaugh in hypothesis for months now. The 2 labored collectively firstly of their NFL careers with the Oakland Raiders. Baltimore Ravens assistant GM Joe Hortiz is one other identify to bear in mind. He’s properly considered across the league, has had a number of GM interviews lately and has labored intently with Jim’s brother, John Harbaugh, the top coach of the Ravens.
What are you listening to across the league on the rent?
Graziano: There’s clearly a robust probability that Harbaugh’s son Jay follows him from Michigan and turns into the Chargers’ particular groups coordinator, and there is a stable probability that Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter finally ends up being the Chargers’ defensive coordinator. The Chargers must undergo a full interview course of for these positions, however these look like the 2 more than likely Michigan assistants to leap with the top coach when all is claimed and achieved.
In any other case, I feel most individuals count on this to be a home-run rent for quarterback Justin Herbert, combining Harbaugh’s monitor report with quarterbacks and the immense expertise of Herbert. The Chargers have plenty of robust wage cap and roster selections to make, however they’re set at quarterback, which makes plenty of different selections really feel a lot simpler.
What can the Chargers do in Spherical 1 to assist Justin Herbert in Harbaugh’s offense?
Reid: Surrounding Herbert with extra assistance on offense is the highest goal of the offseason, as lots of the Chargers’ key playmakers are growing older and/or have shortly develop into costly. That features Allen and Williams, who each missed intensive time with accidents in 2023. Plus, the early returns on Quentin Johnston, final 12 months’s first-round decide, have not been nice (38 catches, 431 yards, two TDs).
Harbaugh and this new regime could be on the lookout for some upgrades there, and I might keep watch over Washington’s Rome Odunze or LSU’s Malik Nabers at No. 5. Los Angeles may additionally go together with Georgia tight finish Brock Bowers and even Notre Dame offensive sort out Joe Alt to shore up different components of the offense for Herbert. And do not be stunned if Harbaugh drafts from the Michigan pool; Wolverines receiver Roman Wilson may come off the board late on Day 2 or early on Day 3, and he would assist this Chargers offense.
How would you grade this rent?
Tannenbaum: A-. This is a perfect match for each side. Going again to his time as a Raiders assistant in 2002-03, each quarterback coached by Harbaugh has gotten higher, so this could solely assist Herbert’s ascension to famous person QB standing. The Chargers have large cap points, and there might be rising pains; this would possibly not occur in a single day. However it’s a really robust rent for a corporation that should get again on monitor.