The Los Angeles Chargers may be the most intriguing team without a head coach when the non-playoff NFL teams begin their offseasons next Monday. With the opportunity to coach quarterback Justin Herbert, a ton of coaches from the professional and college ranks will be vying for the Chargers job.
Vice versa, the Chargers will want to make a splash hire to get back into NFL relevance, and the oddsmakers think that some household names will be in the running.
BetOnline updated its odds for who will be the head coach of the Chargers and Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh is the new favorite. Fresh off a win in the Rose Bowl on Monday, Harbaugh has +150 odds to be LA's next coach, slightly ahead of Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Notably, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who emerged as the initial favorite upon Brandon Staley's dismissal, fell to third behind Harbaugh and Johnson. His odds did not slip much though after he opened at +300.
Next Chargers head coach (odds per BetOnline)
- Jim Harbaugh (+150)
- Ben Johnson (+240)
- Bill Belichick (+350)
- Kellen Moore (+750)
The Chargers entered the season with Super Bowl expectations after last year's playoff heartbreak. That also put a ton of pressure on Staley and his coaching staff to match those expectations.
After a six-week stretch that saw the Chargers lose all but one game, that lone win being a 6-0 victory over Belichick's New England Patriots, LA decided to fire Staley after three seasons. The Chargers have lost two more games since and are 5-11 entering Week 18.
Last dance for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan?
To add more fuel to the fire, Harbaugh hired a new agent last week amid all of these NFL rumors. That surely had to play a factor in this odds shift, and perhaps Michigan's win over Alabama did as well.
After losing in the College Football Playoff semifinals in each of the last two seasons, Harbaugh's Wolverines finally got over the hump on Monday. They'll play for a national championship next Monday against Washington and what a way it would be to end Harbaugh's Michigan career going out on top.
Michigan fans may not want to hear that, but at least that means Harbaugh finished the job as he brought the Wolverines all the way back into the national limelight.
It will still be a few more weeks before the Chargers hire their next head coach and before that, Jim Harbaugh can reach the pinnacle of college football coaching.
Could a return to the NFL be the next move for Harbaugh after that?
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