The Denver Broncos got some bad news on Wednesday. The Los Angeles Chargers have hired a new head coach... and it's a good one.
Jim Harbaugh, fresh off of winning the College Football National Championship at Michigan, has been selected to be the Chargers' new head coach. This is a fantastic hire for the Chargers, to be sure.
The Broncos, who already have to play in a division that has a future Hall-of-Fame head coach in Andy Reid, will now have to play a team led by a guy who took the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl and has taken Michigan to the College Football Playoffs the last three years in a row.
While the Broncos have missed the playoffs in each of the past eight seasons, the Chargers have been the team in the division that they have been able to beat pretty regularly, at least once per season. That could be changing now that Harbaugh is there to steer the ship.
This was the move the team needed to make to get Justin Herbert's career back on track but it will also become an exciting destination for free agents around the league when the Chargers are able to get their salary cap issues under control.
Harbaugh seemed to be deciding between the Chargers and Atlanta Falcons, but when a second interview with the Falcons was cancelled on Wednesday, it started to look like the writing was on the wall.
The Broncos will now have another team within the division to consider more than a formidable foe as Harbaugh will be expected to get things turned around quickly. Just about one year ago, while the Broncos were in the midst of their coaching search, I laid out the reasons why Harbaugh was clearly the best choice for them.
Yes, even over Sean Payton.
Payton got the job and Harbaugh stayed at Michigan. But now that he's won a national championship, he will return to the pro level to try and get that elusive Super Bowl. And he has a team that will be a contender to do just that in short order.
The Broncos still have Payton, but this does (and should) feel like a big obstacle in the team's path toward getting back on top.
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