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Chargers fans react to Pete Carroll vs. Jim Harbaugh heating back up

Originally posted on Los Angeles Chargers on SI
By Chris Roling | Last updated Jan 24, 2025 10:00 PM ET

The AFC West underwent a dramatic shakeup on Friday with the arrival of Pete Carroll as Las Vegas Raiders head coach – rekindling his longstanding rivalry with Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh in the process.

That massive headline skewed the head coach power rankings in an AFC West that now has Carroll, Harbaugh, Andy Reid and Sean Payton.

In a wild twist, Payton is now somehow the youngest coach in the division at 61 years old. Harbaugh, somehow fittingly, is just a few days older than him.

More importantly, the head coaches combine for some outright wild stats in terms of career-long accomplishments.

It all adds up to make the AFC West even more difficult right in 2025, as Carroll will bring a baseline competence to a rebuilding Raiders team that will suddenly be able to keep pace amid a rebuild.

Chargers fans, at least for now, weren’t all that concerned about the move upon its reveal. Most, though, tipped the hat to Carroll coming back and giving it a go in the NFL’s toughest division, in part because it means more shots at Harbaugh.

Some of the best reactions:

Pete Carroll top 3 funniest coaches of all time. 73 years old, no QB, just took the job for the love of the game and for his hatred of Jim Harbaugh
— (@RunThaBaII) January 24, 2025

At 61, the #Broncos Sean Payton suddenly has become the youngest head coach in the AFC West. Raiders’ Pete Carroll is 73. Chiefs’ Andy Reid is 66. And Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh is 61 and six days older than Payton.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) January 24, 2025

Just a reminder that both Sean Payton and Pete Carroll wanted the Chargers job before the Raiders and Broncos jobs.
— Dean Thanos (@HailDeanThanos) January 24, 2025

When the Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh last season, I figured Sean Payton would eventually be his Pete Carroll-like rival in the AFC West. Now he has the actual thing too.
— Jimmy Durkin (@Jimmy_Durkin) January 24, 2025

With Pete Carroll joining the AFC West with Raiders. the Chargers' Jim Harbaugh becomes the only coach in the division without a Super Bowl ring. The Chiefs' Andy Reid has three and the Broncos' Sean Payton has one.
Like Carroll, Harbaugh has won a national college title.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) January 24, 2025