Jim Harbaugh reveals he's undergoing heart procedure, additional surgery

LA Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said on Wednesday evening (Jan. 15) that he will “soon” have an ablation to treat an irregular heart rhythm as well as hip replacement surgery, according to the Associated Press. Harbaugh experienced an irregular heartbeat during the first half of the 23-16 (Oct. 13) win against Denver. During the first quarter, he briefly entered the medical tent before heading to the locker room. While in the locker room, he had his pulse and an EKG taken and received an IV of magnesium.

More on Jim Harbaugh and his heart issues

Following Los Angeles’ win, Harbaugh shared with the media that he had an atrial flutter.

“I guess a minor – it’s called atrial flutter. I got into an episode today with it,” said Harbaugh. “Doctors checked me out and it got back into sinus rhythm, normal rhythm so came back.”

This diagnosis is nothing new as far as Harbaugh’s health. He noticed it at all considering his past problems with his heart, including at least one other instance when it took place around the time of a game when he was last in the NFL.

“I could tell there was some irregular beats,” said Harbaugh.

“Had a couple ablations – one in 1999 and one in 2012,” Harbaugh recalled. “I always remember the one in 2012 since it was during the Monday Night game…It wasn’t even during the game. After the game, I got checked out. Ended up having to have an ablation for that one because it didn’t go back into rhythm.”

While Harbaugh went off for personnel to further evaluate him, Jesse Minter, the Chargers’ defensive coordinator, took over as the acting head coach in his place. He then returned around halfway through the opening quarter against the Broncos. Los Angeles then went on to get a 23-16 at Mile High. It got closer than they hoped after leading at 23-0 going into the fourth quarter.

Most importantly to him, though, is that he now is undefeated in matchups when this has happened to him.

“2-0 with arrhythmias,” said Harbaugh to a laughing conference of reporters postgame.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater also contributed to this article.