49ers Star Who Played Under Jim Harbaugh Reveals What Makes Chargers Coach so Special

John Robinson | Sep 28, 2024

Sep 22, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh looks on before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Chargers were one of the most disappointing teams to watch in seasons past under the leadership of Brandon Staley. A talented roster that would continuously fall short as bad coaching and a lack of physicality plagued the franchise for the last three seasons. The arrival of Jim Harbaugh has completely changed the identity of this team and they have adopted his identity so far this season.

Los Angeles started the 2024-25 NFL season 2-0 for the first time since 2012 and despite them losing to the Steelers in week three this team looks completely different under coach Harbaugh. He has turned the Chargers into a physical rushing team that is led by potential Comeback Player of the Year Candidate J.K. Dobbins.

Harbaugh has found success at every destination during his coaching journey and has already looked to have shifted the culture in Los Angeles. During an interview with Noah Camras of Los Angeles Sports Report former 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, who played under Harbaugh in San Francisco talked about the qualities that make the Chargers' coach so great.

“He knows exactly what it takes to be able to get someone or a group to rally behind him. He has a formula — whether it’s a formula, whether it’s just his personality — he has that ‘that’ and that’s just something that can’t be taken away.”

“Being around him, just seeing how he operates as a coach, as a businessman, as a leader, he has all the qualities it takes to win and lead. And guys believed in what he was trying to do, and I guess that’s the thing that he has, when it comes to a team, a group of men. They believe and they respect him as a coach. And he knows how to get the best out of his players.”

The way the Chargers have played over the first three weeks of the season shows how the former Michigan Wolverines head coach is an immediate culture changer. Los Angeles has become a physical ground-and-pound team with a stubborn defense that looks completely revitalized from the group they were a season ago.

Harbaugh has shown leadership qualities that this talented roster has lacked under the old Staley-led regime. This new-look Chargers group will be a fun team to monitor over the next few seasons as Harbaugh tries to deliver a Super Bowl to a franchise that is starving for a Lombardi Trophy.

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