What Jim Harbaugh's return to the NFL means for the Chargers - ESPN

The Los Angeles Chargers agreed to terms with Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday to be the franchise's next head coach. Harbaugh joins the Chargers weeks after leading Michigan to its first national title in 26 years. Harbaugh, 60, returns to the NFL a decade after he spent four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers (2011-2014), who he led to a Super Bowl appearance.

Taking a closer look, Chargers reporter Kris Rhim answers four big questions about the Harbaugh hiring, including what comes next. National reporter Dan Graziano dishes on what he's hearing about the hire, draft analyst Jordan Reid spins it forward to the draft and front office analyst Mike Tannenbaum grades the hire.

Rhim: In owner Dean Spanos' only public comments since firing coach Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco, he said that the Chargers were «clearly not where we expect to be… and we need new vision. Doing nothing in the name of continuity was not a risk I was willing to take.»

Spanos making an in-season firing — the second in team history — shows the urgency that the 73-year-old has to win and his belief in the Chargers chances to do so. Harbaugh was one of the top options of this cycle, with a history of turning middling teams into contenders, and he knows the organization, playing quarterback for the Chargers for two seasons (1999-2000).

Rhim: When Harbaugh joined the 49ers, they were a team that had fallen from the league's elite, missing the playoffs for eight straight seasons. In Harbaugh's first team meeting, he told players he would «burn the grass» to «get rid of the snakes,» former 49ers tight end Delanie Walker told the Bussin' With The Boys podcast.

«We were terrible because we just partied every night and did what we wanted,» Walker said. «Everybody