Jim Harbaugh adds 35,000 career snaps from former 49ers to Chargers staff

The Los Angeles Chargers have half a dozen former San Francisco 49ers players coaching in some capacity right now.

The current list is as follows:

• LB NaVorro Bowman (linebackers coach)
• FB/DL Will Tukuafu (assistant defensive line)
• IOL Jonathan Goodwin (offensive assistant/quarterbacks)
• IOL Mike Iupati (coaching intern)
• TE Delanie Walker (coaching intern)
• S Dashon Goldson (coaching intern)

This group alone brings 34,952 NFL snaps on offense or defense to the Chargers' coaching staff. That total does not include the career snaps of other former players like Nick Hardwick and Mike Devlin, both working with the offensive line.

What Harbaugh's group lacks in long-time NFL coaching experience is made up for in on-field playing experience. Aside from Tukuafu, each of those former 49ers played more than 5,500 career snaps with several different teams. These are individuals who carved out lengthy careers for themselves and found ways to sustain high-level play in the NFL.

That so many would be eager and willing to take permanent or temporary (for now) summer jobs with Harbaugh speaks to how truly beloved he is by his players.

As for the three summer interns in Iupati, Walker, and Goldson, there is precedent for converting temporary coaching gigs with the Chargers to more permanent roles. John Timu, a former Chicago Bears linebacker, started under the Alex G. Spanos Coaching Fellowship in 2021 and worked his way to assistant defensive line coach in 2023.

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has found success in hiring former players. Zach Orr, now the team's defensive coordinator, was a three-year linebacker with the team and started coaching with them as a defensive analyst. Chris Horton, the team's special teams coordinator, was a three-year NFL player before joining the Ravens as an assistant in 2014.

It will take a season or more to see the impact of Harbaugh's decision to hire so many former players. So far, the early standout seems to be Bowman, as second-year linebacker Daiyan Henley has reportedly been making strides in camp as 2024 third-round rookie Junior Colson returns from an appendectomy.