Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh still appears to have a close relationship with his former quarterback, Colin Kaepernick.
Harbaugh and Kaepernick spent the 2011–14 seasons together in San Francisco when they were both with the 49ers.
Earlier this year, Harbaugh spoke with USA Today Sports and revealed he contacted Kaepernick to explore the possibility of the former NFL quarterback joining the Chargers’ coaching staff.
Harbaugh said he spoke to Kaepernick shortly after he took the head coaching job in Los Angeles. In August, Harbaugh confirmed Kaepernick would not be part of the staff for the 2024 season.
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Colin Kaepernick makes a guest appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)
“I love Colin, but he’s not going to be on the coaching staff, which is set for this year. And he’s not going to be playing on the roster either,” Harbaugh said after a Chargers practice in August.
Kaepernick made a guest appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” this week, and he clarified whether he was offered a coaching role.
Jim Harbaugh watches former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick throw passes at halftime of the Michigan spring game April 2, 2022, at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. (Kirthmon F. Dozier/USA Today Network)
“It is not true,” Kaepernick told Fallon. The former Niners star added he learned about the situation when he looked on social media.
“I found out the same way everyone else did — on social media. I was like, ‘Oh, I got a coaching offer.’ No, no coaching offer.”
Fallon proceeded to ask Kaepernick whether he would be open to coaching in the NFL at some point, but the former quarterback made it clear his football interests remain in playing the game, not coaching.
“No interest in coaching,” Kaepernick responded. “I need the adrenaline rush of playing and being in it, or I think I can have more impact in other places with my time.”
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline during the second quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh Sept. 22, 2024. (Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images)
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Nevertheless, Harbaugh remains confident in Kaepernick’s coaching potential and praised the former signal-caller for his “football mind.”
“I have thought that for a long time. Just the respect that I have for the football mind he has and the football man that he is,” Harbaugh said in August. “[Late Raiders owner] Al Davis saw something in me that made him think I would be a good coach, and I see those same qualities in Colin. If it is something he chooses.”
Kaepernick has not appeared in an NFL game since 2016. However, he has expressed interest in playing for the U.S. flag football team in the Olympics. The sport will be included in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
“Hopefully we’ll be out there,” Kaepernick told Sky Sports. “We’re gonna work on some things, see if we can make it in there. But we’d love to be out there.”
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