Report: Jim Harbaugh getting five-year contract from Los Angeles Chargers

Jim Harbaugh is jumping back to the NFL in 2024, taking the head coaching job with the Los Angeles Chargers Wednesday.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Chargers are giving Harbaugh a five-year deal. The amount of money it took for Los Angeles to lure him away from Ann Arbor is currently unknown.

The 60-year-old Harbaugh is fresh off leading Michigan to its first national title since 1997. He last coached in the NFL in 2014 with the San Francisco 49ers. He spent four seasons in San Francisco (2011-14), going 44-19 with a Super Bowl XLVII appearance. Harbaugh is the fifth-winningest head coach in NFL history by win percentage, trailing only Guy Chamberlain, John Madden, Vince Lombardi and George Allen.

All Harbaugh has done at the collegiate level is win, as he went 29-6 at San Diego (2004-06) and 29-21 at Stanford (2007-10). From 2015-current, he’s gone 86-25 including a perfect 15-0 season in 2023.

Harbaugh was the first candidate to get a second interview with the Chargers during their search. He also had multiple interviews with the Atlanta Falcons before making the jump to Los Angeles. With the Chargers continually failing to make progress in the playoffs, they will be hoping Harbaugh can take them over the top. Los Angeles’ last playoff win came back in 2018, earning just two victories in the last 14 seasons.

Jim Harbaugh leaves Michigan after winning National Championship

Harbaugh himself is looking for his first Super Bowl championship, the one thing which has eluded him in his coaching career. Can he accomplish that with the Chargers, a franchise which has yet to win a Lombardi Trophy? That remains to be seen, though Los Angeles has the most important part of that equation figured out.

That, of course, is the quarterback position, with Justin Herbert locked into the franchise for the long-term. Schefter noted that Herbert’s presence was one of several factors which led Harbaugh to the Chargers.

“There are many factors that appeal about the Chargers. I think you start with Justin Herbert,” Schefter said on SportsCenter. “Everywhere that Jim Harbaugh has been, he has turned around that program. He was a quarterback in San Diego with the Chargers. Knows the ownership group. He knows the Spanos family, and he is a huge Justin Herbert fan.

“So, when this opportunity was presented to him, it was a question of whether the two sides can come to a common ground in terms of the infrastructure within the organization on a contract. On a deal. And all those elements came together today to where now, he’s going to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.”