After weeks of speculation the LA Chargers made the dream hire that fans were yearning for at head coach: Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh has won everywhere he has coached and the expectation is that he will usher in a new era of Chargers football and turn this franchise around. In hindsight, hiring Harbaugh was pretty obvious. Harbaugh had been flirting with the NFL for years and finally got a job opportunity with a franchise quarterback.
Add in the fact that he accomplished his biggest goal of winning the National Championship with Michigan and it became clear that the one thing left for Harbaugh to do is win a Super Bowl. It did not feel that obvious in the moment as Chargers fans had no idea what the team was going to do. The Chargers themselves didn’t seem to be sure that Harbaugh was going to come as the team interviewed a litany of other head coach candidates during the cycle.
Many have wondered who the Chargers would have ultimately hired if Harbaugh decided to go back to Ann Arbor or take the Atlanta Falcons job. In a recent appearance on Pardon My Take, NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed who the plan B was for LA. “Mike Vrabel, I think, would have gotten the Chargers job if Jim Harbaugh would have gotten on the plane to go to Atlanta.
I think Jim would have had a decent chance to get the Falcons (job), which one move obviously impacts the other. Vrabel had a great interview with the Chargers and they really liked him.
It just was one of those things where it didn’t go his way in this cycle.” Adam Schefter says Mike Vrabel would have gotten Chargers job if not Jim Harbaugh Well, at least Chargers fans can know that ownership was not going to settle on a suboptimal head coach. While Vrabel ultimately didn’t get hired during the coaching cycle, he would have been a far better hire than Dan Quinn or any of the other fringe candidates that the Chargers interviewed.
The ripple effect of this move would have been very interesting to watch play out in real-time. Vrabel’s coaching hires would have been completely different and the Chargers may have even hired a different GM than Joe Hortiz, who had a previous relationship with Harbaugh. It also would have impacted free agency and the draft in a big way.
The Chargers would not be tied to as many Michigan prospects as they are tied to in the draft, and perhaps the team would have created the necessary cap space to sign Derrick Henry in free agency. Regardless, the Chargers still made the best hire possible and that is why there is so much buzz and excitement around the team right now. But it is still nice to know what the team would have done as it shows a better understanding of what it takes to win by the Spanos family. There was never going to be another first-time head coach with massive question marks.
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