I feel like I’ve seen this movie before: Great college coach goes to a California team that is starving for a winner and immediately turns their rags to riches.
While the latter part of that statement is yet to be determined, hiring Jim Harbaugh is the best thing the Los Angeles Chargers could have done.
From San Diego to Los Angeles, the Chargers have been stuck in this weird vortex hovering between indifferent mediocrity and disgruntled disenchantment for what feels like forever. This isn’t unique to the Justin Herbert era, although it needs to be highlighted just how impressive it is to waste four years of one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the NFL. It goes back much further than that. Shooting for the stars and not even making it to the sky has become a staple of the Chargers franchise. They went 14-2 in 2006, fielded the league’s MVP in running back LaDanian Tomlinson, and didn’t win a playoff game. In the wake of that disappointment, Marty Schottenheimer was fired and in came Norv Turner. Turner had a playoff win in each of his first two seasons, but went 9-7, 8-8, and 7-9 in his final three seasons before he was let go.
Then came Mike McCoy — oh dear. The Chargers snuck into the playoffs, and actually upset the Cincinnati Bengals as the No. 6 seed before losing to the Broncos in the divisional round- that’s as much success as McCoy would have under the headset. The ensuing three seasons, the Chargers went 9-7, 5-11, and 4-12, respectively, before McCoy was fired.
Enter Anthony Lynn. Much like his two predecessors, Lynn got off to a promising start, going 9-7 in his first season followed by a 12-4 campaign that earned the Chargers a first-round bye in the playoffs, but no playoff win. Lynn and the Chargers went 12-20 over the next two seasons before he was fired.
In his final season, though, it was evident the Chargers had a superstar under center. Justin Herbert put up incredible numbers, throwing for 4,336 yards (second all-time for a rookie) and 31 touchdowns (most all-time for a rookie). How did the Chargers capitalize on this? Well, they didn’t.
Now, hindsight is 20-20, and at the time of the Chargers hiring Brandon Staley, it seemed like a good move. A guy who put together a really good defense with the Rams would come in and fix a Chargers’ defense that allowed finished 23rd in points allowed in 2020. How exactly did that turn out? Survey says: *insert loud red X noise from Family Feud*
From 2021-23, the Chargers had the 27th ranked defense in terms of EPA. The so-called “defensive prodigy” left the Chargers worse off then when he took over for them. Three seasons of Justin Herbert wasted with just a single playoff game than ended with the Chargers surrendering the second-largest comeback in history, blowing a 27-0 lead against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jim Harbaugh is what the franchise, and its superstar golden boy quarterback needed. No more first-time head coaches or over-the-hill names from the past- a proven winner who knows how to get the best out of everyone in his locker room. When Harbaugh took over the 49ers, they were a wayward franchise that hadn’t had a winning season in nine years. Their quarterback, Alex Smith, had been stuck in the mud since being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2005 NFL Draft (which by the way, we will never see a case like Alex Smith ever again).
In 2011, the 49ers went from 6-10 to 13-3 and appearing in the NFC Championship Game. Smith threw for a then-career high in yards to go along with 17 touchdowns and five interceptions while leading the NFL in lowest interception percentage. The next year, the 49ers were in the Super Bowl, and a play away from winning the entire thing. They followed that up with yet another conference championship appearance before struggling in 2014 with an 8-8 record, which led to Harbaugh being fired and taking the Michigan job where he basically repeated what he did in San Francisco.
Before they hired their former quarterback to be their head coach, Michigan had become a mediocre blue blood. They had just one 10-win season since 2006, and were coming off a 5-7 2014 season that saw them move on from Brady Hoke. Harbaugh led the Wolverines to six 10-win seasons, three appearances in the College Football Playoff, and capped off his run with a 15-0 National Championship season. He had similar success when he took over a one-win Stanford team in 2007. It wasn’t immediate, but Harbaugh took the Cardinal from the laughing stock of college football to an Orange Bowl win with quarterback Andrew Luck in 2010.
Now, Harbaugh goes from his alma mater to the team in which he spent his final two seasons in the NFL with a familiar task in front of him- turn the ship around. With Harbaugh at the helm, there are multiple things to expect: A balanced offense to take some of the pressure off Justin Herbert and a defense that will hold up their end of the bargain. I won’t be surprised if Harbaugh brings his defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, along with him. Nor will I be shocked if they bring in Blake Corum at running back, as Austin Ekeler is a free agent and saw his production dip in 2023. The best thing about the Chargers is that this won’t be a difficult fix. They have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, they just needed competency at the top, which they have lacked. They’ll have to make some changes due to cap issues, but a large majority of the battle is finding a great head coach and a great quarterback- they have both of those.
Does this mean the Chargers will immediately be in the Super Bowl? No. But they are a hell of a lot closer to being capable of getting there then they have been in a very long time.