When Long Beach State decided to part ways with head basketball coach Dan Monson, the school allowed him to stay on to coach the team in the Big West Tournament. After five straight losses to end the regular season, surely Monson and his 49ers’ run wouldn’t last long. Fast forward a week and now Long Beach is dancing into March Madness and Monson says he’s got it better than anyone, including former Michigan and current Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh.

“God has blessed me with a great career and these kids have been awesome to coach,” Monson said after punching his ticket to the Big Dance. When Jim Harbaugh says who's got it better than him, someone needs to tell him Dan Monson.”

The Harbaugh quote comes from the former Wolverines headman who was fond of saying that as the maize and blue made their run to win a national championship this past football season.

While Monson and the Long Beach State basketball team almost certainly won’t win a national title, just showing up in March Madness is a huge upset after the team tanked at the end of the season and the head coach got fired. In the Big West Tournament, though, the 49ers beat UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and UC Davis.

Rallying his team to the NCAA Tournament is an impressive feat for Monson, which will surely go a long way toward getting him his next job. Monson started his coaching career as an assistant at UAB and Gonzaga before taking over as head coach of the Zags.

In 1999, the coach took Gonzaga to its first Elite Eight and parlayed that into the Minnesota job. He lasted seven seasons in the Midwest before getting fired and taking over the Long Beach State job in 2007.

Despite the rough season, Monson tells ESPN, “I don't think this is my last year,” he said. “I love coaching. … I need a new challenge. That's life. It's on to the next chapter.”