Jim Harbaugh has made it pretty clear that it was a tough decision to leave the Michigan Wolverines after leading the program to its first-ever College Football Playoff national championship earlier this month. But it sounds like the Los Angeles Chargers are paying him an extremely hefty amount of money to make that decision a little easier.
According to a report from NFL insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the Los Angeles Chargers have given Jim Harbaugh a contract that pays him an average salary that’s nearly double what he made during his highest-paid season with the Michigan Wolverines.
“Per multiple sources, it’s believed the former Michigan coach will receive an average salary of $16 million per year from his new team,” Florio wrote for Pro Football Talk.
“Harbaugh’s deal, based on prior reports, covers five years. If it’s all guaranteed, that’s an $80 million commitment.”
This is obviously an absolutely insane contract that will make him among the highest-paid coaches in the entire league, and the NFL world had a lot to say about it on social media as a result.
For reference, the only coaches who made more in 2023 were Bill Belichick ($20 mil) and Sean Payton ($18 mil).
Bag secured. https://t.co/7i1IjwzZ8d
— Anthony Broome (@anthonytbroome) January 31, 2024
Yea and Ben Johnson wanted 15 million https://t.co/gJxboPua5h
— PAIN (@Xommanders) January 31, 2024
The Bears aren’t paying the entire coaching staff anything close to this number. https://t.co/Dkmqd3kIhy
— Fake Al Secord (@Not_Al_Secord) January 31, 2024
Yowza, that’s top end coaching money. Massive swing for the Chargers https://t.co/FDykmGwOxn
— Brad Spielberger, Esq. (@SpielbergerBrad) January 31, 2024
Coaches out here getting paid before the running backs https://t.co/KOboeAJmqE
— Alex Johnson (@a_johnsonFF) January 31, 2024
So much for the Spanos family being cash poor if this report is true https://t.co/ZyVPDIxJqt
— Matt Karoly (@mattkaroly) January 31, 2024
It’s clear that the Chargers were willing to pay what it takes to get an elite coach. We’ll have to see how Harbaugh performs.
