Jim Harbaugh is coming back to the NFL. The national championship-winning coach of the Michigan Wolverines has agreed to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, a statement of intent from a franchise that has made three playoff appearances in the past 14 seasons and wants to become the team of choice in one of the world’s largest sports markets.
RELATED:
The easiest way for the Chargers to return to relevance — let alone Super Bowl contention — is to win. And it has certainly occurred to the Chargers that they have just hired the coach who has won at a higher rate than any other NFL coach, even though he was back in the college ranks for nearly a decade.
Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid reacts to shirtless Jason Kelce next to Taylor Swift
The highest winning percentage in NFL history
Upon his return to the NFL, Harbaugh will take up his mantle once again as the league’s all-time leader in winning percentage. Harbaugh’s winning rate of nearly 70 percent is five percent higher than New England Patriots legend Bill Belichick and nearly six percentage points higher than Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs.
It remains to be seen where Belichick ends up for the 2024 season — he has interviewed twice with the Atlanta Falcons but has not accepted a job offer yet. However, Harbaugh and Reid are sure to meet next season as the Chargers and Chiefs — AFC West rivals — will play each other twice, giving Harbaugh a chance to keep Reid at arm’s length on the winning percentage chart.
Harbaugh’s motivation
Harbaugh does not have the type of playoff success that Belichick and Reid have enjoyed — those two coaches have won a combined eight Super Bowls since the 2001 season. But the 60-year-old is itching to set the record straight, as he knows how agonizingly-close he came to hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy during his stint with the San Francisco 49ers.
Harbaugh lost to older brother John in Super Bowl XLVII after the 2012 season, a tight three-point game between the 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens at the Superdome in New Orleans. San Francisco had four plays from the Baltimore 7 with under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but quarterback Colin Kaepernick was unable to find the end zone. The Ravens conceded a safety with four seconds remaining but held on to win, 34-31.
Time will tell as to whether Harbaugh, signed to a five-year contract, can get the Chargers in a position to win the Super Bowl — and whether Justin Herbert is the guy to get him those extra seven yards.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Marca
