After nine years, three straight Big Ten titles, three straight wins over Ohio State, three straight trips to the Playoff, one National Championship, and many, many failed attempts, someone with a Harbaugh-to-NFL rumor seems to finally be correct. Breaking: Jim Harbaugh is leaving Michigan to accept the head coaching job with the Los Angeles Chargers, sources tell ESPN. The Chargers get their man while the national champions now have a head-coach opening. pic.twitter.com/e937qd03hP — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 24, 2024 …as seemingly confirmed by the Chargers. WHO’S GOT IT BETTER THAN US?? — Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 25, 2024 Whether they initiate a cursory search process first or not, the job is going to Sherrone Moore. Michigan's incumbent OC/OL coach served as interim head man four times last year, winning at Penn State, and winning the most narratively significant Michigan-Ohio State game ever played. More importantly, insiders say Sherrone Moore has the confidence of the players and staff. Also the other names talked about during periods of high Harbaugh departure inevitability were Kalen DeBoer, recently installed in Saban's chair, and Jedd Fisch, who is taking DeBoer's. While the bulk of the coaching staff should stay put, if/when they name Moore he will need new coordinators for all three phases. During the post-2020 program rebuild Harbaugh brought in a lot of staff with deeper ties to Michigan than himself. If/when Moore is named, he is likely to hold onto critical architects of that turnaround like Steve Clinkscale, Mike Hart, Ron Bellamy, Mike Elston, Grant Newsome, Kirk Campbell, Denard Robinson, and most importantly S&C coach Ben Herbert. Defensive wunderkind Jesse Minter and the somehow still vastly underemployed Jay Harbaugh are expected to join Jay's dad in LA. If I was Sherrone I would ask them to use what they were going to pay Jim to try to hold onto those guys. Michigan had some hope of holding onto Harbaugh, but one cannot win the Lombardi Trophy at Michigan. College coaches who can make the leap to the pros are rare--Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Steve Spurrier, Lou Holtz all failed--and among them Harbaugh is the rarest: a successful college coach who's *already* taken an NFL team to the Super Bowl. It stings to lose him now, when Michigan's as strong as it's been in our lifetimes, but I've never met a Stanford fan who lamented Bill Walsh, a Canes fan mad at Jimmy Johnson, or a happy USC fan whether they had Pete Carroll or not. This will not be the last time we talk about Jim Harbaugh, who turned around a program experiencing its worst decade since the 1950s, and leaves, like Fritz Crisler, after taking one of the greatest teams ever assembled to the pinnacle of college football. Crisler's top lieutenant promptly won another championship, but in the years afterward Michigan's administration fell behind in a rapidly changing landscape. Perhaps the benefit of knowing history is the power to learn from it. Welcome, fans of the reigning National Champions, to the Age of Moore. [Barron] UPDATE: official. Statements from Santa Ono and Warde Manuel after the jump.