Every day that passes there is a new wrinkle in the Chargers-Jim Harbaugh rumors. While Harbaugh prepares his Michigan team for the College Football Playoff, the football world is concerned about whether or not he is going to jump ship to the NFL.
It truly is a new story every day with Harbaugh, which makes this such a compelling story for Chargers fans. Prior to the weekend, for example, it was revealed that the Chargers have undergone a feeling-out process on Harbaugh. Then, late Saturday night, another wrinkle was added to the story.
Just two days before his team's Rose Bowl matchup against Alabama, it was reported that Harbaugh was hired NFL agent Don Yee. The timing of this report is certainly interesting but even more interesting is how familiar the Chargers might be with Yee from previous years.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has hired football agent Don Yee to represent him, sources tell me and @PeteThamel. Amongst others, Yee represents Tom Brady and Sean Payton and has deep NFL ties. pic.twitter.com/9fFe9yElNI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2023
Jim Harbaugh hires agent with plenty of history with the Chargers
The two big names that Don Yee has represented in recent years, Sean Payton and Tom Brady, have had direct ties to the Chargers in the past. It seems like an eternity ago but before Justin Herbert was a franchise quarterback there was legitimate speculation that Tom Brady was going to come to the Chargers.
The Chargers were essentially the runner-up for Brady back in 2020. It wasn't just rumors and speculation that Brady might come to the Chargers. There were legitimate ties between Brady and the Bolts and discussions definitely were had.
The same cannot totally be said for Payton as Brandon Staley was never fired but there was a lot of speculation about Payton coaching the Chargers in 2023. If Payton was a free agent instead of having to be traded for then maybe he would be coaching the Chargers right now. But there is still that connection there.
Is this a bad sign? Maybe. After all, the previous two big names that had Lee as an agent ended up joining different teams than the Chargers. But if anything, this confirms that Harbaugh's interest in coming to the NFL is very real and is not just a ploy to get more money from Michigan (although this will still do that).
And if the interest is real then there is no better team to coach next season than the Chargers. At this point, it might not be a better of if Harbaugh is hired, but when.