Jim Harbaugh Teams coached

Jim Harbaugh is an American professional football coach and former NFL quarterback who spent a decade and a half playing as a quarterback at the highest level. Harbaugh, born on December 23, 1963, comes from a football lineage. At the collegiate level, Jim Harbaugh’s father, Jack Harbaugh was given head coaching gigs at Western Michigan University and Western Kentucky University. His elder brother, John Harbaugh has been the head coach for the Baltimore Ravens since 2008, leading them to a Super Bowl win in 2013. As reported by Pro Football Network, Harbaugh is serving the Chargers on a 5-year $80 million contract. The younger Harbaugh’s net worth stands at $40 million as of January 2025 per Celebrity Net Worth.

Revisiting his early life, Harbaugh attended Palo Alto Senior High School before moving to Ann Arbor to play for the Michigan Wolverines. He compiled more than 5,200 passing yards in his collegiate career. His last year with the maize and blue saw him pass for 2557 yards (via Sports Reference) and helped him get selected into the first round of the 1987 NFL draft. In a pro career spanning a decade and a half, Jim’s majority of playing time came with the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts, appearing in 142 games for those two franchises. Jim concluded his NFL career with a 66-74 record as a starter (via Pro Football Reference).

Jim Harbaugh Teams Coached

Harbaugh entered the coaching field for the first time in 1994. His first opportunity in the NFL came in the form of a quarterbacks coach with the Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas Raiders) in 2002. From there on he has only served as a head coach for multiple teams at both the collegiate and NFL level.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (1994 - 2001)

While he was still playing in the NFL, Harbaugh also worked as an unpaid offensive consultant under his father Jack Harbaugh for the Hilltoppers. He used to scout and recruit high school athletes.

Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas Raiders) (2002 - 2003)

After retiring from the NFL, it didn’t take long for Harbaugh to officially kickstart his second inning as a coach when the Raiders under Bill Callahan offered him the position of quarterbacks coach. During his two years with the Raiders, the team’s starting signal caller Rich Gannon not only won the MVP Award but also led the team to a Super Bowl trip.

San Diego Toreros (2004 - 2006)

This was Jim Harbaugh’s first time as a head coach. Under his tenure, San Diego won two consecutive Pioneer League titles in 2005 and 2006.

Stanford Cardinal (2007 - 2010)

The younger Harbaugh’s second head coaching gig came at Stanford University. In his 4 years with the Cardinals, the team’s record got better each year. Jim’s win total went up from 4 in 2007 to 12 in his last year at Stanford (via Sports Reference).

San Francisco 49ers (2011 - 2014)

Jim Harbaugh agreed to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers on January 7, 2011. He instantly turned around the rebuilding franchise as the 49ers finished the 2011 season with a 13-3 record, good for second in the whole NFC. The team reached the NFC Championship game that season. He was named AP NFL Coach of the Year for an amazing turnaround he did in San Francisco. The 2012 season saw Jim replacing incumbent starter Alex Smith with a second-year signal caller in Colin Kaepernick. While the team couldn’t match last year’s win-loss record, they still finished atop the NFC West for the second consecutive season by winning 11 games (via Pro Football Reference). However, they did one better in the playoffs as the 49ers made it to a Super Bowl, where they came up short against the Baltimore Ravens, who were coached by Jim’s elder brother John Harbaugh. Jim once again led the 49ers to a third straight postseason and NFC Championship game appearance in 2013. However, after going 8-8 in 2014, Jim and the 49ers mutually parted ways on December 28, 2014.

Jim Harbaugh’s first three years saw the 49ers' offense rank 11th in each of those years, while the defense finished top 3 in points during the same time span. Jim Harbaugh had a 44-19-1 record in the regular season while going 5-3 in the postseason during his tenure with Red and Gold (via Pro Football Reference).

Michigan Wolverines (2015 - 2023)

In 2015, Harbaugh once again returned to college football to coach the Michigan Wolverines. His coaching career in Ann Arbor got off to a great start as he led the Wolverines to three 10-win seasons in his first four years. However, the next two years saw him win a total of 11 games, including a 6 game season in 2020 (via Sports Reference).

However, the 2021 season was when everything came together for Jim Harbaugh as not only did he register his first-ever win over arch-rivals Ohio State, but he also led the Wolverines to their first Big Ten Championship win under his tenure. Jim was also named to College Football Coach of the Year that season. The 2022 season saw Michigan win the Big Ten Championship Game and reach the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive year. However, Jim Harbaugh and the boys were once again eliminated in the playoffs and had to come back empty-handed.

However, all the stars seem to be aligned in Jim Harbaugh’s final year as not only did Michigan go undefeated the whole season, but won its first national championship of the 21st century. Jim Harbaugh concluded his Michigan coaching career with an 89-25 record (via Sports Reference).

Los Angeles Chargers (2024 - Present)

After tasting success at the collegiate level, Harbaugh returned to the NFL to coach another SoCal team, the LA Chargers. He led the Chargers in the playoffs in his first season as the head coach behind an 11-6 record.