Former San Francisco 49ers tight end Delanie Walker remembers a 2012 training camp practice beginning as practice always had -- until coach Jim Harbaugh called the team to midfield.
"We thinking, 'Oh yeah, he's about to cancel practice,'" Walker said. "'We going to go to a water park or something.'"
Harbaugh began speaking to the team about its NFC West rivals. The Seattle Seahawks were at an amusement park, Harbaugh told the team. The St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals were also enjoying a day off, he said. "Guess what the 49ers are going to do today?" Harbaugh asked.
They would practice -- intensely. At least a hundred plays: "Everybody else takes breaks, the 49ers don't," Harbaugh said.
"Everybody was kind of pissed that day," Walker said while laughing.
This was the Jim Harbaugh way: working his players to the brink of exhaustion and then some. The method was effective -- until it infuriated everyone. But Harbaugh ushered in a period of renaissance for the 49ers; that season, San Francisco reached Super Bowl XLVII.
"There won't be any magic formulas," Harbaugh promised Los Angeles Chargers fans at his introductory news conference in 2024. "The only ones that I know are just good, old-fashioned hard work."
While Harbaugh largely operates in the same fashion, the Chargers' version of the coach has evolved. He's traded in the khakis for gray trousers. His training camp practices have gone from the intensity of a game day to what his former players see as nearing a version of flag football that prioritizes keeping the team healthy.
"That's where he's different. Now it's like, 'Yeah, let's take that break.' It's like, damn, 'Who is this dude?'" said Walker, who was a volunteer coach with the Chargers during last year's training camp. "This Jim Harbaugh, he got nicer for sure. So when people say he changed, I would say he changed for the better of the game."
The old Harbaugh upset some players, coaches and execs. This Harbaugh, now 61 years old, hardened by the failures and lessons of his first NFL stint and early struggles in the college ranks, is approaching the job differently. It could be the difference in whether Harbaugh reaches the goal of winning a Super Bowl -- and how long the Chargers can tolerate him. The second year of Harbaugh in Los Angeles begins Friday, when the Chargers face the Kansas City Chiefs in São Paulo (8 p.m. ET, YouTube).
"You don't want things to get stale," Harbaugh said. "That's like overripe fruit, stale bread, burnt meat, you got to change things up."
OVER HIS TWO decades of coaching, there are two factions of Harbaugh's former players and coaches: those who despise him -- often publicly -- and those who are staunch supporters. The words "insane" or "crazy" to describe Harbaugh are commonplace among both groups, but the meaning depends on who is talking.
Look no further than San Francisco. Despite three straight NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl appearance, Harbaugh's approach incensed the front office. And players were tired of Harbaugh, too.
"He just pushed guys too far," former 49ers offensive lineman Alex Boone said on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" in April. "He wanted too much, demanded too much, expected too much. ... And you'd be like, 'This guy might be clinically insane. He's crazy."
The amount Harbaugh asks from his players now is his most significant shift. That's been clear with the Chargers' practices. This season, the NFL selected the Chargers for the Hall of Fame Game, giving them an additional preseason matchup and added practice time. Because of that, Harbaugh reduced the required time at the facility to avoid fatigue.
Harbaugh communicates strict tempos to players ahead of each practice. It's commonplace to see defensive backs raising both hands instead of trying to deflect a pass or linemen stopping in the middle of a pass rush, obeying Harbaugh's rules. There are loud yells and reprimands from coaches and players alike when players stray from the tempo.
Veterans, who have played elsewhere, routinely praise Harbaugh for his current approach to practice: "It's not super common around the league, it's different, I like it," cornerback Donte Jackson said.
But that doesn't mean Harbaugh's practices are easy.
"Six days a week and every day's just intense," safety Elijah Molden said.
J.T. Rogan, who worked for Harbaugh as director of communications/operations for two years at Michigan, has perhaps the best vantage point for Harbaugh's evolution. Rogan was an All-American running back for Harbaugh at the University of San Diego, worked for him at Stanford and tried out for him as a player in San Francisco.
Rogan said Harbaugh's time at Michigan was transformative, pointing to Harbaugh's struggles to beat rival Ohio State and his use of analytics, which altered his coaching style and helped Michigan win the 2023 national championship in Harbaugh's final season.
The legitimacy of that championship, however, will forever be roiled in controversy after various NCAA sanctions were levied against Harbaugh for breaking rules.
"He's taken that feedback, and he's got really high emotional intelligence, even though you might not call him emotional," Rogan said.
He continued: "For people who are like, 'Who wears the same clothes every day all the time?' Or 'Who wears cleats on the airplane?' As if that would cheapen his intellect and his ability to take feedback and then evolve, but he has."
HARBAUGH'S FIRST YEAR in Los Angeles was about changing the culture of a franchise synonymous with disappointment. The Chargers' Week 11 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals seemed to be a turning point.
L.A. had built a 27-6 lead over the Bengals early in the third quarter, then the game began to unravel in a way Chargers fans are accustomed to. (The fan base has an adverb for this recurring dread called "Chargering"). The Bengals scored 21 unanswered points, as quarterback Joe Burrow found wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase for a touchdown to tie the score at 27 with 12:12 left.
But the Chargers won the game, thanks to two 27-yard-plus catches from wide receiver Ladd McConkey and a touchdown by running back J.K. Dobbins on the final drive. The victory appeared to be a watershed moment for the franchise, and the first clear stamp of Harbaugh's impact in L.A.
"There's been a lot of games through the years where we've been put in that position and came up short," said former Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa, who developed into a star as the No. 3 pick in 2016 but was released after a disappointing 2024 season and is now with the Buffalo Bills. "There was kind of a lack of belief in being able to pull off in situations before."
But there were the Chargers eight weeks later against the Houston Texans -- in their first playoff appearance since one of the most embarrassing playoff losses in team history in 2023 -- looking like the Chargers of old.
Star quarterback Justin Herbert, who threw a league-low three interceptions during the regular season, tossed four that day. He became the first NFL player to throw more picks in a playoff game than in the regular season. The Texans pressured Herbert on 50% of his dropbacks, and the Chargers suffered a 32-12 beatdown -- another playoff embarrassment.
Los Angeles is hopeful, however, that Houston was an anomaly and Cincinnati was the standard.
"We didn't achieve the ultimate success that's reserved for the world champion," Harbaugh said earlier this offseason. "But [there's] so much good to build on, that creates a lot of excitement for me and [general manager] Joe [Hortiz] as we build version 2.0."
Increased win totals and postseason success have historically defined second years under Harbaugh-led teams. He went from 7-4 in his first season at the University of San Diego to 11-1 the following year, winning the Pioneer Football League. After taking over a 1-11 Stanford team in 2007, the Cardinal were 5-7 in his second season, narrowly missing out on a bowl game. Harbaugh's 49ers went to the Super Bowl in his second season. (In his first two seasons at Michigan, Harbaugh led the Wolverines to back-to-back 10-3 seasons.)
But Harbaugh already has an uphill battle to replicate that second-year jump in L.A. Pro Bowl left tackle Rashawn Slater suffered a season-ending patellar tendon tear. Running back Najee Harris missed all of training camp after a July 4th fireworks mishap damaged his eye. L.A. travels the most miles in the NFL this season, beginning with the Chiefs in Brazil, followed by two divisional matchups against the Raiders and Broncos.
Regardless of how difficult the outlook seems for this season, the Chargers appear confident, believing in Harbaugh's process.
But that's how it always begins for Harbaugh's teams, before tension, frustration, and at Michigan, sanctions happen. The Chargers hope this version of Harbaugh keeps them in the honeymoon phase long term.
"We're going for the Super Bowl," Harbaugh said. "That's our goal. We're going to do it or die trying."