Bill Belichick credits Jim Harbaugh for turning around Justin Herbert's Chargers after 2024 season debacle
If the season ended today, Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers would qualify for the playoffs. After a mid start to the season, with a 3-3 record after the first six weeks, the Chargers have won three straight games and firmly put themselves in the AFC Wild Card race.
They're unlikely to fight for the AFC West this season, but considering the leaders are the undefeated (and current back-to-back champions) Kansas City Chiefs, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Former NFL head coach Bill Belichick has credited first-year head coach Harbaugh with a cultural change in the franchise:
He's tried to build a more balanced team, [with] more emphasis on the running game, more emphasis on defense, and taking some of the pressure off Herbert so it doesn't have to go back there with 45 times a game. And Jim's established a hard-nosed, tough culture, which is really what every team needs. And they needed a culture that everybody believes in and can rally around. And Jim's done a good job of that.
The Chargers have won just two playoff games since the 2008 season, and played in just one postseason game since Justin Herbert was drafted. They famously blew a 27-0 lead in a playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2022.
What's the coaching record of new Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh?
During his four years with the San Francisco 49ers, Jim Harbaugh put up a respected 49-22-1 record, with an extra 5-3 record in the playoffs. Now, following his nine initial games in Los Angeles, he sits at 55-25-1.
Harbaugh is remembered for the instant changes he brought to the 49ers. He first had Alex Smith as his quarterback, with the former No. 1 pick struggling badly in the league. Once Harbaugh took over, Smith's career started to trend upward, and he became a quarterback good enough to spend another decade in the league.
The same thing is happening with Los Angeles. Since they moved out of San Diego in the 2017 season, they have a 63-61 record, but Chargers fans certainly expected more, especially as they had two great quarterbacks between Herbert and Philip Rivers.
Now, he's leading a team that has not won a playoff game since the 2018 season, and he hopes to lead Los Angeles to the same instant impact he had in San Francisco in 2011. The start of the season has been great.