The last time we could classify the Chargers as having been in possession of a “superstar” head coach was in 2006, the final year of Marty Schottenheimer’s tenure with the franchise. Schottenheimer came to San Diego with 12 previous playoff appearances and three trips to the conference title game.
He was replaced by Norv Turner (who, oddly, had been replaced by Schottenheimer in Washington back in 2000, before Schottenheimer was fired by Dan Snyder after one year to bring aboard Steve Spurrier … wild times). Turner was certainly tenured, but had just one trip to the playoffs as a head coach on his résumé before taking the job in San Diego.
After Turner, the franchise turned in succession to Mike McCoy (four seasons of NFL coordinating experience, including Peyton Manning’s first season with the Denver Broncos), Anthony Lynn (one season as a coordinator, with a long history of coaching running backs and being an assistant head coach with the New York Jets) and Brandon Staley (one season as an NFL defensive coordinator, with the 2020 Los Angeles Rams). Lynn and Staley finished their tenures at .500 or better, but were unable to harness what had become unreasonable expectations for the franchise perpetuated by the team’s employing of a handful of star players topping an otherwise hollow roster.
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Their recent history at the head coaching position and lukewarm success overall has, for some fans, folded neatly into the narrative that the Chargers prefer to save money over building a championship football team, even though they did pay up when it came time to give Justin Herbert a $262 million contract. And though I have heard stories in the past from folks around the league where spending a little more money in Los Angeles specifically could go a long way, as I have made calls to better understand the coaching market this year, I have not heard that money would prohibit the Chargers from getting their No. 1 target.
The head coaching position is one spot in particular where an owner can show a little bit of willingness outside of the spending that is required to operate a franchise (and, let’s be real, every owner possesses the ability to spend money outside of basic roster construction). And, I think if I were the Chargers, I would take this opportunity to blow the fan base away, sweep a narrative under the rug and lure Jim Harbaugh away from his massive 10-year extension currently sitting on the table at Michigan.
I don’t know whether Harbaugh will succeed in the NFL a second time (he took the San Francisco 49ers to three straight NFC title games and Super Bowl XLVII), but I do know that it will take a large financial commitment to land him and making that large financial commitment will mean something to a fan base that desperately wants to hone some consistent brilliance out of a franchise quarterback who can, on some Sundays, look like the best player in the NFL. I also could see at least one other bidder for Harbaugh’s services in the NFL. Winning that battle, should one exist, especially if Harbaugh is coming off a national championship run at Michigan, would communicate a desire for improvement, above simply a hope for improvement.
In essence, the Chargers need to land their next “superstar.”
I hear you. Spending money just to prove that you can is silly. But in this case, the pursuit of Harbaugh would come at the convergence of a few critical factors and timetables.
For one: Sean Payton is cleaning house in Denver and, in the matter of a few seasons, will have the Broncos winning consistently. Ownership there paid handsomely for the privilege. In Las Vegas, my sense is that Mark Davis could take a gargantuan swing at the head coaching spot, after having already spent $100 million on Jon Gruden, and $10 million per season on Josh McDaniels. The Chiefs are the Chiefs, and Andy Reid is also among the highest-paid coaches in the NFL.
The money is now necessary.
Voluntarily sitting out of this arms race could lead to one of two options: The Chargers finally land a coordinator brilliant enough to erase decades of frustrating and chaotic averageness (which they have failed to do consistently over the last decade-plus), or the status quo remains, and the Justin Herbert era comes and goes like a fallen tree in a deserted forest.
To me, Harbaugh is someone who can effectively slash through the worst of what the Chargers job will be immediately (and, believe me, this job could be awful for a bit). Above the other coaches on the market who would represent a similar, all-encompassing financial and public relations victory (Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson and Bill Belichick), Harbaugh’s résumé has the sample size that Johnson’s does not yet, and he has connections to a more quarterback-centric program that Belichick has been criticized for lacking.
Harbaugh would come with many strengths and many challenges, most of which we know. But he would also come with the kind of price tag that lets a fan base know ownership is listening. That is priceless.
