The Los Angeles Chargers are back in the playoffs, and Jim Harbaugh is in the NFL record book. Harbaugh made history after the Chargers clinched a spot in the AFC playoffs after defeating the Patriots in Week 17. Los Angeles is back in the playoffs after a one year hiatus.
Harbaugh has become the first coach in the Super Bowl era (starting in 1966) to lead two teams to the playoffs in his first season after that team had a losing record the previous year (h/t the AP). Harbaugh also accomplished that feat in 2011, when he lead the 49ers to the NFC title game during his first year in San Francisco. The 49ers went 6-10 the year before Harbaugh’s arrival.
It’s hard to find a coach that is better at reclamation projects than Harbaugh at both the professional and college level.
Prior to coming to San Francisco, Harbaugh led a revival at Stanford. After going 4-8 in his first season, Harbaugh led the Cardinal to a 12-1 record during his final year at Stanford that was punctuated by a 40-12 win over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
After leading the 49ers to within a play of winning the Super Bowl in 2012, Harbaugh became the head coach at his alma mater, Michigan, in 2015. Harbaugh led Michigan to a 10-3 record that year after the Wolverines had slogged through a 5-7 season. In nine years in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh went 89-25 that included the school’s first national title since 1997. Harbaugh won his final three matchups against Michigan’s arch rival, Ohio State.
Harbaugh is in the middle of yet another successful reclamation project with the Chargers, who will soon set their sights on winning the franchise’s first playoff game since 2018.
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