The Los Angeles Chargers made news Wednesday night by hiring Jim Harbaugh as the team’s next head coach.
Several of the top NFL reporters helped break the news of Harbaugh landing with the Chargers, but the way the team’s social media team revealed the hiring was unmatched.
With the reports flying fast, all the Chargers did was post a video on the X platform of white smoke coming from a chimney — the Vatican actually has white smoke come from the Sistine Chapel when a new pope is elected — signaling Los Angeles had come to an agreement with Harbaugh without actually saying so.
About 90 minutes after that post, the Chargers officially announced the hiring of Harbaugh.
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Harbaugh certainly will be viewed as the savior for the Chargers, who underperformed under Brandon Staley. Even with one of the more physically gifted quarterbacks in all of football in Justin Herbert to go along with a talented roster, the Chargers finished last in the AFC West this season with a 5-12 record and haven’t won a playoff game since 2018.
Harbaugh is fresh off a run at Michigan where he guided the Wolverines to a national championship. The 60-year-old also has plenty of NFL success under his belt. Harbaugh went 44-19-1 during his four seasons with the 49ers from 2011-14, and led San Francisco to three straight NFC titles games, including an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII.
Perhaps Harbaugh can keep the pope analogy going and wear pope regalia at his introductory press conference with the Chargers.
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Featured image via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
