Chargers News: Jim Harbaugh Ranked As Top-10 Head Coach Before First Down for LA

Is it too soon to be this optimistic?

Jun 13, 2024; Costa Mesa, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh at a press conference during minicamp at the Hoag Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Hot off claiming a College Football Playoff national championship to cap an undefeated 2023 season with the Michigan Wolverines, Jim Harbaugh (and a lot of his staff, and some of his players!) jumped ship to hopefully salvage the Los Angeles Chargers, who went 5-12 in 2023 despite fielding a talented offensive roster around Pro Bowl quarterback Justin Herbert.

Harbaugh's reputation precedes him. To be fair, he's a proven commodity in the NFL, too, given that he went 44-19-1 during the regular season and 5-3 in the postseason while coaching the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-2014 (which included three straight NFC title game bouts and a Super Bowl berth).

In his latest ranking of all the NFL's head coaches, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports ranks Harbaugh as the No. 7-best in the land — despite Harbaugh having yet to coach a single down with the Bolts.

"On one hand, Harbaugh's been out of the NFL for a decade, and, in fact, has just four seasons of pro head-coaching experience under his belt," Benjamin writes. "On the other, he's been an undisputed victor at every spot, with 16 winning seasons in 20 years as a head man, including three NFC title games and a Super Bowl appearance during his San Francisco 49ers days. L.A. is bound to be more disciplined under his watch."

Harbaugh and his hand-picked general manager Joe Hortiz have revamped the club to focus on the run game, ditching the team's top two wideouts and top running back from last year's roster.

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