No one would dispute the notion that Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh is one of the better NFL and college football coaches of the 21st century.
But Colin Cowherd has a much higher title in mind for Harbaugh.
“If you combined it like basketball, and there was a Football Hall of Fame, you could count college and pro, I would make an argument today [that] the greatest coach in the history of football is not Bill Belichick or Bill Walsh or Vince Lombardi, it’s Jim Harbaugh, the greatest coach ever,” Cowherd said on Wednesday’s edition of “The Herd.” “He’s never failed; he’s 5-for-5. San Diego, Stanford, San Francisco 49ers, Michigan and the Chargers: he’s never failed. [Nick] Saban and Urban [Meyer], unbelievable college legends [but] struggled in the NFL. He’s also not tied to a single player. What’s [Bill] Belichick without [Tom] Brady? Not great. The only person that kind of compares to him is Jimmy Johnson. Great in college and great in the pros, but even Jimmy took over a program that had won a National Championship, and they won after he left. And then he took over the [Miami] Dolphins, and the previous two years, they were 10-6 and 9-7 before he got there, and then he left and then Dave Wannstedt took over, and Dave got them to the playoffs.
“With Harbaugh, he’s taken over five messes. They’re all very good by Year 2, some by Year 1.”
The head-coaching trail for Harbaugh began at San Diego, which went a combined 29-6 under him from 2004-06, including back-to-back 11-1 seasons. Then, it was off to Stanford, where the Cardinal increased its win total in each of Harbaugh’s four seasons as head coach starting in 2007, highlighted by a 12-1 campaign in 2010.
Harbaugh then ventured off to the NFL, taking over the 49ers and helping them go a combined 44-19-1 from 2011-14. San Francisco made the NFC Championship Game in each of its first three seasons under Harbaugh, highlighted by reaching Super Bowl XLVII.
Harbaugh went back to the collegiate scene to coach his alma mater Michigan, with whom he was a quarterback from 1983-86, in 2015. From 2015-23, the Wolverines posted a combined 86-25 record, including six 10-plus-win seasons, three College Football Playoff appearances and the 2023 National Championship. Harbaugh took over the Chargers shortly after the college triumph. In his first season at the helm in 2024, the Chargers went 11-6, made the playoffs and quarterback Justin Herbert posted a career-high 101.7 passer rating.
“Harbaugh takes stuff, and one day it’s ‘Bar Rescue’, and the next day, it’s Michelin Star,” Cowherd said.
On the before and after front, while Stanford posted losing records in each of Harbaugh’s first two seasons as head coach (2007-08), it had already posted losing records in each of the five seasons prior to his arrival; Michigan had a 5-7 season the year before Harbaugh took over and is 10-6 since his departure; the 49ers hadn’t made the playoffs since 2002 before their first season with Harbaugh in 2011, and didn’t make the playoffs after his departure until 2019; the Chargers missed the playoffs in four of the five seasons prior to Harbaugh’s 2024 arrival.
To date, Harbaugh has a 57-25-1 NFL head-coaching record (69.3% winning percentage) and a 115-46 college head-coaching record (71.4% winning percentage).
“What’s most remarkable [is] Michigan was a mess, Stanford was a mess, the Niners were a mess. He makes them great, he leaves [and] there is a noticeable drop-off overnight,” Cowherd said. “I think he’s not a coach: he is a soul of a program.”
Harbaugh and the Chargers are off to an auspicious start this season, getting wins over the Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil in Week 1 and on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2.
Colin Cowherd: ‘Jim Harbaugh is the greatest coach in the history of football’
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