Should Jim Harbaugh Have Signed With The Chargers Or The Falcons?
Newly-minted Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in sunny Southern California riding high, thanks to his Michigan Wolverines' undefeated 15-0 season, capped off with a 27-20 overtime defeat of the No. 4-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl and a 34-13 victory over the No. 2-seeded Washington Huskies in the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship.
During his nine years with Michigan, he led the team to an 86-25 overall record and eight bowl appearances, including six 10+ win seasons. Before that, Harbaugh (a former pro quarterback) was the head man with his lone NFL franchise to this point, the San Francisco 49ers. During his four years with the Niners, from 2011-14, he led the club to a 44-19-1 overall record, which included three straight playoff berths, peaking with an appearance in the 2012 Super Bowl. Harbaugh infamously lost to his brother John's Baltimore Ravens in the big game.
Per Bill Barnwell of ESPN, the Chargers may have been the only club from among the NFL eight teams with head coach openings that was prepared to equip a new hire with some control over front office additions.
The Atlanta Falcons, generally considered another of the top head coach openings this past offseason, were also contenders for Harbaugh's services. When he ultimately demurred, the Falcons went with Raheem Morris.
Did Harbaugh make the right decision?
The Falcons finished with a 7-10 record for the second straight year under now-fired head coach Arthur Smith, while toggling between quarterbacks Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. Los Angeles has one key asset that Atlanta lacks, which combined with its location identity as a major entertainment hub and overall luxurious destination (with which to lure free agents), give it the edge for Harbaugh, at least in my head. That prime asset, of course, is Pro Bowl quarterback Justin Herbert. Though we've only seen flashes of what he can do, he has upside that Ridder and Heinicke lack (or at least, as of this writing). Above all else, he'll give Harbaugh a better opportunity to win, provided he cleans up some of his late-game gaffes that doomed him for parts of the 2023 season.
