Jim Harbaugh Stealing Michigan Football, Penn State Legends

If you thought that Jim Harbaugh was done with the Big Ten, think again — it’s time to assemble his LA Chargers coaching staff, and no one appears to be safe. From poaching Michigan football assistants to hiring a former Penn State football legend, Harbaugh is on a Big Ten spree right now.

Jim Harbaugh raiding Michigan football coaching staff

Jim Harbaugh, a three-time Big Ten Champion and one-time national champion, is heading back to the NFL next season, where he saw tons of success across four years with the San Fransisco 49ers about a decade ago. Now heading the LA Chargers, who have a loaded roster and a star quarterback right now, Harbaugh has been rearranging his coaching staff to prep for a potential Super Bowl run next fall, and no Big Ten school has avoided getting a look.

Of course, Harbaugh has been hitting Michigan football hard with his hiring spree — four coaches (and counting) have been taken from his former staff in Ann Arbor, including two major losses for the Wolverines: defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and strength coach Ben Herbert. Saturday, Harbaugh took another key coach from Sherrone Moore: defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator (2023) Steve Clinkscale.

Harbaugh takes ex-Penn State football and San Francisco 49ers standout linebacker

On top of that, reports state that Penn State football legend and ex-49ers linebacker (from the Jim Harbaugh era in San Francisco) NaVorro Bowman will be coaching linebackers for the Chargers next year — another major Big Ten connection for Harbaugh’s new team.

Chargers hired former 49ers’ All-Pro LB NaVorro Bowman as their linebackers coach, reuniting him with his former San Francisco HC Jim Harbaugh, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 10, 2024

Harbaugh has long talked about his Super Bowl loss against his brother and the Baltimore Ravens back in 2013 — a narrow 34-31 loss in his lone Super Bowl appearance as a head coach. While Harbaugh finally won “the big one,” it was at the college level, earning a 34-13 National Championship victory against Washington last season, which eventually punched his ticket back to the NFL ranks. Now, it’s time to see if all of these coaching additions will pay off for the Chargers as they search for their first-ever Super Bowl victory in 2024-25.

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