Jim Harbaugh achieved his objective of main Michigan to a School Soccer Playoff Nationwide Championship win in 2023, however a Tremendous Bowl title stays the elusive objective for the 60-year-old Harbaugh, who left his alma mater final week for a return to the NFL as Los Angeles Chargers coach.
Harbaugh, making his first public feedback since his departure from Michigan, advised CBS Sports activities on Sunday that the Lombardi Trophy pursuit was a driving issue within the choice to depart Ann Arbor, Michigan, after 9 seasons on the helm.
“It was powerful,” Harbaugh mentioned throughout CBS Sports activities’ pregame protection of the AFC Championship Recreation between the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. “I used to be torn. My spouse and children (have been too). I really like Michigan. However I really like the NFL, too, and there is not any Lombardi Trophy in school soccer. I’ve obtained so many sands left within the hour glass, and I wish to take a crack at that. There isn’t any higher place to do it than with the Los Angeles Chargers.”
Harbaugh had a earlier — and profitable — stint teaching within the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14, however he fell in need of profitable all of it. He guided San Francisco to a Tremendous Bowl look throughout the 2012 season, however the 49ers misplaced to a Baltimore Ravens crew that was and nonetheless is coached by Harbaugh’s older brother, John Harbaugh. The elder Harbaugh will look to return to the Tremendous Bowl for the primary time since then on Sunday when the Ravens host the reigning Tremendous Bowl champion Chiefs.
As for Jim, he takes over a Los Angeles franchise that has by no means received a Tremendous Bowl and has solely reached the playoffs twice inside the previous decade. The crew simply received 5 video games in 2023, giving Harbaugh the prospect to orchestrate what could be yet one more turnaround in a training profession that has featured loads of them.
“We work collectively, we win collectively, and it is price it — the onerous work, the sacrifice, the strain, all of it,” Harbaugh mentioned of the message he intends to present in his first crew assembly. “Why would someone put themselves by means of that? As a result of the rewards are simply so darn good. You may see that at present (with the AFC Championship).”
Harbaugh’s Chargers tenure will mark the fourth head teaching run of his profession inside the state of California. He additionally had stops teaching Stanford and San Diego on the collegiate stage along with his previous NFL stint with the 49ers.
