SI:AM | Harbaugh Goes West, Again

Plus, the best candidates for the four remaining NFL head-coaching jobs.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m glad Jim Harbaugh finally made up his mind.

In today’s SI:AM:

〽️ What losing Harbaugh means for Michigan

⚡ What landing Harbaugh means for the Chargers

🤔 Why Harbaugh’s decision to leave was so complex

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Hail to the Chargers

In a move that felt inevitable, Michigan Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh was hired yesterday by the Los Angeles Chargers.

Rumors that Harbaugh could leave Ann Arbor and return to the NFL had begun circulating years ago. Speculation ramped up this season, though, and after Michigan won the national championship, it made sense that Harbaugh would make the jump. He’d accomplished his biggest goal—leading his alma mater to a title—and the NCAA’s hawks were circling over his head for potential punishment after two scandals loomed. It was as good a time as any to leave.

Harbaugh also interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons but ultimately chose to go to the Chargers. It’s easy to see why the L.A. job would be attractive to him. Beyond Los Angeles being a nice place to live, the job also gives Harbaugh a chance to work with one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL, Justin Herbert. Harbaugh is a former quarterback who began his NFL coaching career as the quarterbacks coach with the Raiders.

After winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and making the Pro Bowl in his second season, Herbert posted career lows in completion percentage and passing yards per game this season. That’s hardly his fault, though. The Chargers were obviously a mess (finishing the season with a 5–12 record), and two of his top targets—Mike Williams and Josh Palmer—missed most of the season with injuries. But Herbert is clearly capable of being one of the top quarterbacks in the league when he has the pieces around him, and the Chargers have committed to him through the 2029 season. That kind of certainty is much more appealing to a coach than the Falcons’ murky QB situation.

But how does this impact Michigan? The good news for the Wolverines is that there should be a smooth transition of power, with current offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore the favorite to replace Harbaugh. (Moore was the interim coach when Harbaugh was suspended this season.)

But whoever takes over the team next will inherit a program with plenty of question marks. For one thing, Michigan will have plenty of roster turnover next season. All the players who chose to come back to school after the 2022 season to chase one more chance at a championship will be gone. That includes stars like quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corum, receiver Roman Wilson, and defensive studs like Jaylen Harrell and Kris Jenkins. There’s also the possibility that Michigan could face NCAA sanctions as a result of the sign-stealing scandal, as well as additional punishment for the COVID-19 recruiting violations committed by Harbaugh. He may have also misled NCAA investigators.

Harbaugh’s departure is the latest twist in what’s been a wild “offseason” in college football. Only one coach from this year’s four College Football Playoff teams remains at his original school (Steve Sarkisian at Texas).

The question for Harbaugh now is whether he’ll be able to replicate the success he had with the San Francisco 49ers. The Chargers play in a tough division that’s been dominated by the Kansas City Chiefs for the past eight years, but this season has shown that even K.C. can be somewhat vulnerable. And the NFL is a league where teams rarely stay on the top or bottom for very long. It’s easy to envision how Harbaugh can help the Chargers turn things around in short order.

Moving to the NFL gives Harbaugh the opportunity to chase the Super Bowl win that he came so close to during his run with the Niners. He made three straight NFC championship games in his four years in San Francisco, winning in 2012 to set up a Super Bowl showdown against the Baltimore Ravens and his brother, John. The older Harbaugh lifted the trophy that night, but now Jim will be gunning for his own championship. He’ll even have an immediate chance to go head-to-head with John next season, as the Ravens will visit the Chargers. The schedule hasn’t been announced yet, but you can bet that one will be nationally televised.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY

• Pat Forde breaks down Jim Harbaugh’s decision from a Michigan perspective, including what possible punishment Harbaugh and the school could face.
• Michael Rosenberg wrote about the complexity of Harbaugh’s decision to leave his alma mater.
• For the Chargers, hiring a coach like Harbaugh is the big swing the team needed to assert itself as something more than the Rams’ roommates, Conor Orr writes.
• Orr also gave his take on the best fits for the four remaining head-coaching jobs in the NFL.
• Hearing Bucks general manager Jon Horst speak yesterday confirmed Chris Mannix’s belief that firing coach Adrian Griffin was a risky decision.
• New Bucks coach Doc Rivers’s priority will be fixing Milwaukee’s defense, Rohan Nadkarni writes.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Cale Makar’s stick-handling and pinpoint accuracy to score his 76th career goal, the most by a defenseman in Avalanche franchise history.

4. A suburban Kansas City high school football team’s reaction to being mistakenly included in a graphic promoting the AFC championship game.

3. Victor Wembanyama’s staredown of Chet Holmgren after dunking on him.

2. Back-to-back fights between the Panthers and Coyotes, immediately after the opening face-off.

1. Mike Breen’s joke about Doc Rivers taking the Bucks job.

SIQ

Today is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first Winter Olympics, which was hosted by what city?

• Oslo
• Saint Moritz, Switzerland
• Lake Placid, N.Y.
• Chamonix, France

Yesterday’s SIQ: Which elite contact hitter, known for his small stature, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the BBWAA as part of the museum’s fourth class on Jan. 24, 1939?

• Lefty O’Doul
• Billy Hamilton
• Willie Keeler
• Dan Brouthers

Answer: Willie Keeler. He was known as “Wee Willie” because he stood 5'4" and weighed just 140 pounds. But Keeler was one of the best hitters in baseball history. He led the NL in hits three times, including in 1897 when he posted an astounding .424 batting average, 34 points higher than any other player in the league.

Keeler, who died 16 years before he was elected, was known for his ability to hit the ball wherever he wanted, a skill he honed by using an unusually heavy bat (up to 46 ounces, according to the Hall of Fame).

Keeler played 19 seasons in the majors, mostly with the three teams in his native New York. He picked up 2,932 career hits in 2,123 games and a .341 career batting average that ranks 17th all time.