Jim Harbaugh has made a living off turning teams into contenders

Jim Harbaugh was hired by the Los Angeles Chargers in late January and in less than a year he's turned them completely around. Let's take a look at the stats.

Last year the Chargers finished with a 5-12 record and fired both their head coach and general manager in mid-December. After demolishing the New England Patriots 40-7 on Saturday, Los Angeles improved to 10-6 and clinched a playoff berth. If they can secure a win over the Las Vegas Raiders next Sunday they'll finish with their most wins in a season since 2018.

Quarterback Justin Herbert has thrown for 21 touchdowns this season compared to 20 last season, albeit in more games, but he's protected the football much better. In 468 attempts Herbert has thrown only three interceptions, a huge improvement from a season ago in which he threw seven picks. Herbert's improved play is a big reason why Los Angeles is headed back to the NFL playoffs.

RELATED: Ladd McConkey cements himself as the wide receiver steal of the 2024 NFL Draft

This isn't the first time Harbaugh has joined a team and turned them around in one short year. He led the San Francisco 49ers to a 44-19 record in the four years he was there that included a trip to the Super Bowl. The Niners' record in the four years prior? 26-38.

Harbaugh's turnarounds aren't exclusive to the NFL, either. Harbaugh was the head coach at Stanford from 2007-2010, leading the Cardinal to a 29-21 record including a 12-1 campaign in 2010. Stanford had gone 14-31 in the four years prior. And who can forget his magnum opus, his eight years at Michigan? Michigan went 80-21 in the eight years under Harbaugh which included three straight Big Ten Championships and a National Championship in 2023. Michigan was 54-47 in the eight years before Harbaugh.

In November, Dominique Foxworth spoke about Harbaugh and the Chargers on The Dominique Foxworth Show on ESPN.

"Jim Harbaugh knows how football is won and lost," Foxworth said. "I think a lot of coaches would come in [to Los Angeles] and say 'alright, we have to optimize for Justin Herbert.' He went and brought in Greg Roman, who is most known for offenses built around Lamar Jackson and Colin Kaepernick. He went and got him because, you know what, we are not going to build our offense around the talent of this quarterback. We are going to build this offense the way that I always know how to play football: With a strong offensive line and we're going to run the football."

That philosophy is working in Los Angeles. The Chargers have the ninth most rushing yards by team, and Herbert's passing ability complements LA's running game. The Chargers currently have the six seed in the AFC, but can move up to five with a win next week and a Steelers loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. No matter who they play in the Wild Card round, you can bet that Jim Harbaugh will have them ready and fired up.

MORE TOP STORIES from The Big Lead
MLB: Dodger$ do it again, re-sign Teoscar
CFB: Texas Tech raking in high-level transfers 
CFB/NFL: DeSean Jackson taking over at Del State 
NBA/SPORTS MEDIA: NBA ratings struggles a sign of the times