Jim Harbaugh Spoke to Colin Kaepernick About Joining the Chargers

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh reveals that he wants former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick to join the Bolts.

December 28, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and head coach Jim Harbaugh (right) jog off the field after warm ups before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

With new head coach Jim Harbaugh at the helm, things are rapidly changing for the Los Angeles Chargers. Now, it appears they could possibly change even more.

During an interview after training camp last week, Harbaugh revealed that he had asked former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick at the beginning of the year to join the Chargers as a non-player. However, there was no further news on the topic.

“Yeah, we talked a little bit about it,” Harbaugh said. “He’s considering it. He was out of the country. He said he was going to get back to me. We haven’t reconnected since then. That was early, early in the year.”

While this already provided some intrigue, things got more interesting when Harbaugh admitted to Jarrett Bell of USA TODAY Sports that he wants Kaepernick as a member of his coaching staff.

“If that was ever the path he was to take, I think that would be tremendous,” Harbaugh said. “He’d be a tremendous coach if that’s the path he chose.”

While it would be great to see Harbaugh and Kaepernick reunite, that may not be what the talented QB wants. In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Kaepernick revealed that he still wants to return to the National Football League as a player, not a coach.

“We’re still training, still pushing,” Kaepernick said. “So, hopefully. We’ve just got to get one of these team owners to open up.”

It has been eight years since Kaepernick played in the NFL.

Picked 36th overall by the 49ers in the 2011 NFL Draft, Kaepernick made his debut as starting quarterback on Nov. 19, 2012 against the Chicago Bears.

Soon afterward, he and Harbaugh would lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl, their first appearance in eight years, losing to the Baltimore Ravens. They would make a return to the NFC Championship Game in 2014 but would lose to the Seattle Seahawks.

Harbaugh would leave the 49ers organization after the 2014 regular season. Kaepernick would follow a few years later in a more controversial fashion.

During the 2016 preseason, Kaepernick did not stand during the National Anthem as a way to protest the deaths and treatment of African-Americans by police officers. Eventually, he shifted the protest to kneeling in order to honor military veterans while still protesting.

This received polarizing reactions from the public, with some supporting his right to protest and others vocally speaking against his actions. After going unsigned during his later free agency, Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL, claiming that owners were colluding to prevent him from being hired due to his activism. They eventually reached an undisclosed settlement.

Thoughout this, Jim Harbaugh remained one of Kaepernick's greatest supporters, going so far as to bring him to a Michigan training camp when he was having trouble getting signed in the NFL. If the talented quarterback were to make a return in a coaching capacity, it would only make sense to do it with the Chargers.

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