Jim Harbaugh is looking to team up again with former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, but for a different partnership than the last time.
New Chargers trainer Jarrett Bell of USA TODAY Sports said, He wants to add Kaepernick to his coaching staff in Los Angeles.
Harbaugh said he discussed the possibility with the former quarterback shortly after he left the University of Michigan to join the Chargers in January. But the talks have not picked up since then, according to Harbaugh.
“Yeah, we talked about it a little bit,” Harbaugh told USA TODAY Sports. “He’s thinking about it. He was out of the country. He said he’d call me back. We haven’t heard from him since. That was early, early in the year.”
“If that’s the path he chooses, I think he’ll be great,” Harbaugh added. “He’ll be a great coach, if that’s the path he chooses.”
Kaepernick has long sought a return to the NFL, but as a player. He last played for San Francisco in the 2016 season after he began kneeling during the national anthem at games in protest of police brutality and racial injustice. Kaepernick, who met with the Seattle Seahawks in 2017 and will train with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, has not signed with a team since.
The 36-year-old confirmed his hopes of returning to the NFL to Sky Sports earlier this week, even expressing interest in playing in the first ever Olympic football competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
But it’s unclear whether Harbaugh would be open to adding Kaepernick to the Chargers’ quarterback room as a player. USA Today Sports reported that Harbaugh, through a team spokesman, declined to comment this week when asked about Kaepernick’s desire to play.
Harbaugh and Kaepernick spent four seasons together in San Francisco from 2011 to 2014. The two teamed up to lead the 49ers to consecutive NFC Championships in the 2012 and 2013 campaigns. Harbaugh, Kaepernick and company lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31, in the Super Bowl XLVII.
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