Chargers News: How Journeyman Jim Harbaugh Helped A Struggling Young Ryan Leaf

He was a coach before he was a coach!

Back in his playing days, new Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh enjoyed a brief stint with the then-San Diego vintage of the club, from 1999-2000 as he closed out his NFL stint.

LA went 9-23 during its two seasons with Harbaugh. He appeared in 14 contests during his first San Diego season, starting 12 (the club went 8-8),  and seven in 2000, starting five.

As Daniel Popper of The Athletic writes, Ryan Leaf spent his second and third pro seasons after being the No. 2 draft pick in 1998 (behind some guy named Peyton Manning, but what did he ever do?) alongside Harbaugh. Leaf told Popper recently that Harbaugh made an effort to help him out amidst his struggles under the weight of outsized expectations.

“Everybody else was just like, ‘Screw this kid. I don’t want anything to do with him,'” Leaf said. “(Harbaugh) wasn’t that guy, ever. He was always there to try to help.”

Leaf replaced Harbaugh as the team's starter for the last five games of the 2000 season.

“He all of a sudden became the mentor,” Leaf said. “He became the coach in that quarterback room... He suffered no fools, and there was no quarter given. If it was a two-footer to win the hole, he was making you putt it out."

Only four Chargers comrades were invited to Leaf's wedding, Popper reports. Harbaugh made the cut.

“Those two years … he ended up being my best friend,” Leaf said.