During Colin Kaepernick’s six-year tenure with the San Francisco 49ers, he had his most successful seasons under head coach Jim Harbaugh, including a run to the Super Bowl in 2012.
While Harbaugh last coached Kaepernick in 2014, the two have remained close, and the current Los Angeles Chargers head coach even admitted to offering his former quarterback a position on his new staff.
Jim Harbaugh Made Colin Kaepernick an Offer To Join Chargers’ Coaching Staff
During Harbaugh’s first draft as the 49ers’ head coach, San Francisco picked Kaepernick in the second round. Just one year later, he took over for an injured Alex Smith and had a very productive stint under Harbaugh until he left the 49ers for Michigan.
Nearly 10 years later, Harbaugh revealed that he has offered Kaepernick a position on his coaching staff with the Chargers. Harbaugh said that he is very intrigued by Kaepernick’s coaching potential.
“If that was ever the path he was to take, I think that would be tremendous,” Harbaugh said in an interview with USA Today. “He’d be a tremendous coach if that’s the path he chose.”
This isn’t new for Harbaugh either, as just this year, he hired one of his former players, former 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who is the Chargers’ linebackers coach.
As things stand, there hasn’t been a deal made between Harbaugh and Kaepernick for a coaching role, but the offer has been extended. Whether it’s accepted is still to be determined, but as a quarterback who saw success in the NFL under Harbaugh’s coaching, this reunion could yield fruitfully for the Chargers.
“Yeah, we talked a little bit about it,” Harbaugh said. “He’s considering it. He was out of the country. He said he was going to get back to me. We haven’t reconnected since then. That was early, early in the year.”
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Kaepernick still has hopes of putting the uniform back on. He’s still training on the off chance that a team offers him a spot to be their quarterback, but with as much time away from the game as he’s been, the chances aren’t high.
However, if Kaepernick does have aspirations of becoming a football coach, it appears he has a job waiting for him with Harbaugh and the Chargers.