Jim Harbaugh Likely To Take Big-Time Assistant Coach With Him To Los Angeles Chargers

Getty Image / Aaron J. Thornton

The years-long, will-he-won’t-he saga of Jim Harbaugh returning to the NFL has come to an end, as the reigning national champion Michigan Head Coach is heading to the Los Angeles Chargers.

This news will have huge ripple effects around the NFL and college football. Among the biggest of those are the effects it will have on Michigan football program going forward.

There’s no doubt that Jim Harbaugh had it rolling at Michigan. After nearly losing his job after a disastrous 2020 season, he turned it around in a big way. They’ve won the last three Big Ten championships, have three straight wins over Ohio State, and just capped off a perfect 15-0 season with a win in the College Football Playoff championship game.

A big part of that was defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Minter, who coached for Jim’s brother, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, schemed up two tremendous defenses the last two seasons in Michigan after 2021 defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was hired by John to coach for the Ravens.

In 2022 and 2023, the only game that the team’s defense did not perform well in the last two years was the 51-45 College Football Playoff loss to TCU in 2022. Outside of that, the Wolverines shut down a lot of outstanding offenses the last two years, with Minter being a big part of that.

Unfortunately for Michigan fans, I expect Jim Harbaugh to bring the 40-year-old with him. Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt agrees with me.

With Michigan probably hiring offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, who filled in as an interim during games Harbaugh missed this year due to suspension down the stretch, that defensive coordinator hire will be a big question mark for the team moving forward.

As for the Chargers, not only did they get themselves an excellent head coach, but they’re likely getting a great defensive coordinator, too.