Jim Harbaugh’s honest take on drafting ‘beloved’ Michigan football players

The Michigan football team had a lot of good NFL talent on their 2024 roster, especially on defense. The Wolverines finished with one of the best defenses in all of college football, and the team should have a few players drafted in the first round from that side of the football. One team to watch for these Michigan players is the Los Angeles Chargers as head coach Jim Harbaugh coached all of these guys before coming to LA.

Jim Harbaugh won a national championship with the Michigan football team in 2023, and then he left for the Los Angeles Chargers. He ended up drafting a couple of Wolverines last year, and he will have the opportunity to do the same in the 2025 NFL Draft.

“There could be four, could be five first rounders and being a Michigan historian myself a little bit, played there, grew up a Michigan fan, I think three is the most first rounders Michigan’s ever had,” Harbaugh told RG.org’s DJ Siddiqi. “That’s cool. This year it could be four, maybe even five! That’s exciting. I have about half the players numbers already in my phone. The ones we interviewed on Monday night, I remember recruiting a lot of them. Maybe they went elsewhere, but it’s kind of cool to reconnect and possibly have a shot for them to be on our team in Los Angeles.”

If there is a Michigan player available that is the best fit when the Chargers are on the clock, Harbaugh will take them. However, he isn’t going to let his connection to Michigan get in the way of making the smartest pick.

“Competitors are welcome at the Los Angeles Chargers, and they come from anywhere, they can come from any team, any state, any country,” Harbaugh said. “Competitors welcomed here. Super excited, I mean those are beloved sons you’re talking about, the Michigan guys, cause I’ve coached them.”

Any Michigan player in the 2025 NFL Draft could end up with the Chargers. LA obviously doesn’t need a quarterback as they already have Justin Herbert, but other than that, Harbaugh is looking to add talent at any and all positions.

“Really all the positions,” Harbaugh added. “The mindset, the philosophy is, just build, build, build, get better. That’s the goal, that’s the mindset. You just go about it and attack it.”

For Michigan football fans, it’s exciting to see former players team up with Jim Harbaugh in the NFL. There are a lot of elite Wolverines in the 2025 NFL Draft that Harbaugh loves, and it will be interesting to see if any of them reunite with their old head coach in LA.