Sad News: Detroit Lions General Manager Brad Holmes involved in a car crash today….
The LA Chargers hiring Jim Harbaugh this offseason was one of the most prolific head-coaching moves in recent NFL history. Harbaugh has won everywhere he has coached and after winning the National Championship with Michigan he will now chase the one thing that has alluded him: a Super Bowl.
Harbaugh gives the Chargers one of the best head coach-quarterback duos in the NFL along with Justin Herbert. Having an elite duo is the main key to being a Super Bowl team and there is no doubt that a Super Bowl could be possible in the next half-decade with Harbaugh and Herbert.
As respected as Harbaugh is, there is still some intrigue about how he will stack up in today’s NFL. After all, he has not coached in the league in a decade and there have been more changes to the game in the last 10 years than one can count.
There does not appear to be much concern for Harbaugh, though. CBS Sports recently ranked every head coach in the NFL and the Chargers head coach checked in at No. 7 — ahead of several prominent head coaches.
Chargers given higher HC ranking than Lions, Bills and several other playoff teams
Chargers fans are not the only ones who believe in Harbaugh, it appears.
Harbaugh definitely has the resume to rank highly among his peers even without coaching an NFL game in a decade. However, you cannot blame fans of any of the teams who were snubbed for being upset over their coach being snubbed.
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell ranked one spot below Harbaugh at No. 8. Harbaugh has definitely accomplished more throughout his career but Campbell has also pulled off the impossible: making the Lions good again. After such an exciting season in Detroit, it is surprising to see Campbell ranked behind Harbaugh (and several others who rank higher than Harbaugh).
Campbell is not the only coach from a recent playoff team to be snubbed in favor of Harbaugh. Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott checks in at No. 9 despite leading the Bills to five consecutive playoff appearances. Kevin Stefanski ranks 10th despite winning his second NFL Coach of the Year in 2023.
Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins), DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans), Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals) and Nick Sirianni (Philadelphia Eagles) all rank below Harbaugh as well. This isn’t to say that every one of those coaches should rank ahead of Harbaugh but it is surprising to see so many recent playoff coaches get snubbed.
Meanwhile, the six head coaches who rank ahead of Harbaugh are Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers), Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers), John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens), Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers), Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams) and Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs).
Tomlin is a pure legacy pick who also probably shouldn’t rank ahead of several of the recently successful head coaches. LaFleur did not make it as far as Campbell in the playoffs and was handed two franchise quarterbacks, so him ranking this high is also surprising.
Harbaugh obviously has high expectations for his return to the NFL and if the Chargers miss any kind of step then pundits around the league will likely be hypercritical. Hopefully, Harbaugh can justify this ranking.
