Jim Harbaugh Gives Update on Offering Colin Kaepernick Coaching Job With Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh gave an update after offering Colin Kaepernick a coaching job with the team.

“I love Colin, but he’s not going to be on the coaching staff I set for this year, and he’s not going to be playing on the roster either,” Harbaugh, 60, told reporters on Thursday, August 15.

Harbaugh was hired as the head coach of the Chargers in January, and he told USA Today earlier this month that he previously reached out to Kaepernick, 36, about a coaching job after scoring the gig.

Kaepernick has not reconnected with Harbaugh about the coaching opportunity, and the last time the two spoke was in February, Harbaugh told the outlet.

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The esteemed coach stood by his decision to reach out to Kaepernick and thinks coaching could be a great option one day for the former quarterback.

“If that was ever the path he was to take, I think that would be tremendous,” Harbaugh told USA Today . “He’d be a tremendous coach if that’s the path he chose.”

The pair have a long history, as Harbaugh coached Kaepernick from 2011 to 2014 when he played for the San Francisco 49ers. Their team made a Super Bowl appearance in 2012, and Kaepernick threw a career-high 21 touchdown passes during the 2013 season.

Harbaugh went on to coach at the University of Michigan from 2015 to 2023, and he and Kaepernick have remained close over the years. Harbaugh made Kaepernick an honorary captain during a Michigan spring game in 2022, and he has been publicly supportive of Kaepernick’s fight for social justice over the years.

Kaepernick, for his part, voiced his desire to play another season with the NFL, telling Sky Sports earlier this month that he’s “still training” and “pushing” to be ready for the opportunity.

“We just need one of these team owners to open up,” he said.

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Kaepernick hasn’t played since the 2016 season when he began to protest racial inequality and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. He became a free agent after the season, and in October 2017, he and 49ers teammate Eric Reid filed a grievance alleging collusion by team owners to keep them out of the league because of their protesting. (Reid, who played safety, was released by the Carolina Panthers in 2020 after signing with the team during the 2018 offseason.)

They reached a legal settlement with the NFL in 2019. While details of their settlement haven’t been publicly released, many outlets reported that the NFL paid less than $10 million in their agreement.