“He Wanted to Compete & Beat Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid”: Rodney Harrison on Jim Harbaugh’s Motivation Behind Joining Chargers

Following his departure from Michigan, Jim Harbaugh could’ve had his pick of teams in the NFL. But rumors were that he wanted coaching jobs in Chicago and Las Vegas. But then he ended up joining the Chargers. So why did he do that? Well, for one thing, he came to LA as they are in the AFC West division.

According to Rodney Harrison on SNF on NBC, Harbaugh wanted to go up against the creme de la creme of the NFL and those are the defending champions, the Chiefs. Simply put, the Chargers HC wants a shot at beating Andy Reid and Mahomes.

Another reason, according to Harrison, is that he wanted to go to a place that already has a franchise quarterback and the Chargers have that in Justin Herbert.

“Harbaugh came here for two reasons. He came here number one for Justin Herbert and number two- he felt like he wanted to compete and beat Patrick Mahomes and Andy Ried. He handpicked the AFC West because this is the coach that loves the competitive nature of that division.”

Harbaugh is settling in well with the Chargers, bringing his trademark blue-collar mentality and hard-nosed work ethic to the team.

Known for his genuine appreciation of his players and their dedication, he continues to find thoughtful ways to acknowledge their efforts—whether through meaningful gifts or other tokens of gratitude.

Jim Harbaugh gifts his players something unique

Following their close 17-13 win over the Falcons, Harbaugh gave the Chargers’ players custom lunch pails. As reported by ESPN, he gifted them a black lunch pail with players’ names on each of them, with his favorite words like “Stalwart” written on them. About that, he said:

“I know I’ve told you some words I don’t like, but that is my favorite of all words: stalwart. As a coach, you just don’t get that many opportunities to be a stalwart, but as a player? You sure do.”

This isn’t the first time that the former Wolverines Head Coach has shown his appreciation or gifted his players something that conveyed a deeper meaning. Following the roster selection, he gave all the 53 players who made the roster a blue-collared work shirt with an embroidered name patch and lightning bolt logo. He has previously also given players game balls.

Harbaugh apparently joined the Chargers with one clear goal: to take down Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. However, in their only meeting so far, he fell short, losing 17-10 at home.

As divisional rivals, he’ll get another shot this Sunday night at Arrowhead. The Chiefs, currently 11-1, lead the AFC, while the 8-4 Chargers hold the fifth seed, making this a pivotal matchup for both teams.