For the second time in as many years as LA Chargers head coach, Jim Harbaugh's 11-win season has ended in the AFC Wild Card Round. Harbaugh has completely reinvented the Chargers' culture in two short years, but none of it matters if the team doesn't win any playoff games.
The Chargers now enter an offseason with inevitable soul-searching on the horizon. The team may undergo an offensive coordinator change, and has real questions surrounding Justin Herbert after a third playoff stinker (not that those questions will lead to anything actionable).
Los Angeles has a long list of upcoming free agents and over $100 million in cap space to spend this offseason. There will be, and should be, a proper retooling for the Bolts this offseason. And for those who are thinking about leaving the team after back-to-back playoff losses, Harbaugh has a rather simple message.
"Those who stay will be champions. We’re not looking at it as an end, but as another beginning."Jim Harbaugh
Jim Harbaugh promises a Super Bowl in the Chargers' future
On paper, the Chargers have all the right pieces to actually make a run at what would be Harbaugh's first Super Bowl trophy. The team has a strong foundation of talent built through the draft and ample cap space (and another draft class) to fill the current roster holes.
That being said, promising that feels a bit far-fetched just minutes after the Chargers laid another egg in the NFL Playoffs. This is the second straight year the Chargers didn't show up in the AFC Wild Card Round and until they do, nobody is going to believe any of Harbaugh's posturing.
It will be interesting to see if the players believe it. Khalil Mack and Odafe Oweh are the most significant upcoming free agents who need to strike a balance between contending and how much they will get paid. For Mack, it's unclear if he will even play another year in the league.
External free agents will also hear this promise. Will any marquee free agents believe Harbaugh's promise at face value and join what he is building in Los Angeles? That's the $100 million question that will determine how far Harbaugh can take this team.
A Super Bowl may not be promised, but Harbaugh is right about one thing: this is another beginning for the Bolts. It's easy to lose the forest for the trees and forget that just two years ago this was a 5-12 football team with little signs of hope.
In two short years, Harbaugh turned the Chargers from an NFL bottom-feeder into a legitimate playoff contender. These first two seasons were always meant to be the years in which the empire was built, although it would have been nicer to at least win one playoff game in that span.
The 2026 season does represent a new beginning for the Chargers. But if it ends the same way the last two seasons have ended, Harbaugh's promise will seem like an impossibility.