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After winning a national championship at Michigan last year, Jim Harbaugh landed a head coaching job with the Los Angeles Chargers and has gone on to put together a solid season.
But two teams were reportedly in the mix to hire him before the Chargers did. NFL insider Michael Lombardi confirmed a report that Harbaugh was interested in the Chicago Bears and also noted that he eyed the Las Vegas Raiders coaching job.
“There were two teams that Jim Harbaugh would have loved to work for last year,” he said on the Pat McAfee Show. “The Bears, who he played for and was the [first-round draft] pick for, and then the Las Vegas Raiders, who he worked for in his first coaching job. Neither team decided to go after him. Why, I don’t know.”
Pat McAfee @PatMcAfeeShow
“Kevin Warren is running that Chicago Bears team and that story about Jim Harbaugh is completely true..
Jim Harbaugh would’ve loved to worked for the Bears and Raiders but neither team decided to go after him” ~ @mlombardiNFL #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/uXLdPrGScP
Both the Bears and Raiders might be regretting their decision not to pursue Harabugh last offseason. Chicago is 4-8 and just fired head coach Matt Eberflus after losing a sixth straight game. Las Vegas has lost eight straight and is on its way to missing the playoffs for a third consecutive season, sitting at 2-10 on the year.
Harbaugh’s Chargers, meanwhile, are 8-4 after going 5-12 a season ago. Los Angeles, which sits second in the AFC West behind the Kansas City Chiefs, has a manageable stretch to close out the season and can secure a playoff spot with a few more wins.
Had Harbaugh landed with the Bears, things could have gone much differently in Chicago. The Bears have plenty of talent with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams under center and receivers like DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen. They’ve shown flashes of potential all year, losing to strong teams like the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions by less than a touchdown, but perhaps didn’t have the right coach making the calls.
It’s hard to say whether things would have gone better with the Raiders if Harbaugh had been at the helm given all their struggles, but his success with the Chargers seems to indicate Las Vegas could have had a more promising season.
