Jim Harbaugh is coming off of an impressive first season with the Los Angeles Chargers.
The 61-year-old head coach posted an 11-6 season during his debut year with the Chargers, clinching a surprise playoff appearance last season. The Chargers rode a stout defensive unit — they ranked No. 1 in points allowed — and turnover-less football, posting the least amount of interceptions (three) of any team in the NFL.
While the Chargers will obviously be looking to improve upon their result last season — they lost in the wild card round 32-12 after Justin Herbert threw more interceptions (four) than he did during the regular season — Harbaugh doesn’t have a concrete objective for the team in 2025 outside of “winning” each day.
”Just to win the day,” says Harbaugh in a one-on-one interview when asked what his team’s objective is for the 2025 season. “I’m not really into saying have a nice day. That’s seems to put a little chance to it. Let’s just make it a great day — weekly, monthly, yearly. This is our opportunity.
“Let’s make sure that we give it our very best and we’ll feel good about what we accomplished,” Harbaugh continues to say.
The former NFL Coach of the Year is currently in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine. There are a number of positions the Chargers could upgrade at with their No. 22 overall pick, including wide receiver and the offensive and defensive lines.
Although they feature one of the top young quarterbacks in the league in Justin Herbert, they’re lacking No. 1-caliber receivers outside of Ladd McConkey, who led the Chargers with 82 catches for 1,149 receiving yards during his rookie season. Quentin Johnson had a solid sophomore campaign with 711 receiving yards and a team-leading eight touchdowns, but Los Angeles may be looking for an upgrade as they look to get to the next level.
Harbaugh says every team in the NFL outside of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles share that “disappointment” for not finishing with the Vince Lombardi Trophy last season.
”Yeah, that’s a great question,” says Harbaugh when asked how the Chargers can improve next season. “Just attacking anything and everything to get better. There’s only one team in the NFL that’s happy, that’s the Philadelphia Eagles.”
“Every other team, we share that disappointment,” Harbaugh continues to say. “Probably more disappointed than the Chiefs because they got farther when they got to the Super Bowl. There’s some teams are probably more disappointed than we are because they they didn’t get to the playoffs”
Harbaugh says he really “loved” last season’s Chargers team and that they’re aiming to bring as many guys back as possible from last season. However, he acknowledges that’s “probably not possible” in the free agency era. Los Angeles had 30 free agents entering the offseason, most notably nine-time Pro Bowler Khalil Mack.
“Just look in the mirror and it starts with yourself and where can I coach better? What can I do? The first thing we’ve been doing is really trying to get as many players back for the 2025 season that we had in 2024,” says Harbaugh. “Love our team. I don’t know if it’s possible — it’s probably not possible — to get every single guy back in the age of free agency, but we’re trying.”
He singled out the re-signing of safety Elijah Molden and says the Chargers will “attack” free agency along with conducting interviews at the Combine in preparation for the NFL Draft in April.
“Really excited Elijah Moulton, signed a two-year contract with us,” says Harbaugh. “Got him back and working on others, attacking free agency, going through the tape and that’ll start soon. We’re at the Combine right now. I’m in Indianapolis, we started interviews last night. That’ll continue this evening and then watch the guys get on the field and compete and have at it. It’s a lot going on, but really blessed to be in the position to be and at it today.”
Jim Harbaugh Partnering With INVIVYD For Non-Vaccine Preventative Options for COVID-19
Harbaugh is partnering with INVIVYD, a biotech company looking to provide non-vaccine preventative options for COVID-19, especially those who are immunocompromised.
“ I know people don’t like talking about it as much, but it’s still there,” says Harbaugh. “People are still getting sick, but nothing more important than our health. I’m not a doctor, but please do talk to your doctor about your health, about your options and go to expandtheiroptions.com for more information.”
He explains why he’s partnering with INVIVYD in a time when people may think that COVID-19 is old news.
”You may be me, or you may know somebody that’s immunocompromised, maybe fighting cancer, going through an organ transplant, or medication that suppresses their immune system,” says Harbaugh. “There are options and you don’t have to be sidelined. You don’t have to live in fear, you can get out there and be able to attend the games, gather with family and not live in fear. Bottom line, nothing more important than our health.”
The veteran head coach has been dealing with his own health issues as of late, recently undergoing hip surgery and mentioning that he’ll go through an ablation to treat an irregular heart rhythm.
“Getting patched up and so far so good,” says Harbaugh. “Just attacking it, doing anything I can, anything and everything I can to be healthy. I just care about all those around too, family, friends, great loves at home and the great loves at work. Just sharing what I’ve gone through and what I know and what I’ve been learning. Again, not a doctor, just relaying and passing on some information.”
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