EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Colin Kaepernick has a door open to return to the NFL in what would be a grand reunion with his former coach, Jim Harbaugh.
But here’s the twist: While Kaepernick, 36, recently told Sky Sports that he still wants to play in the NFL, the new Los Angeles Chargers coach contends that he wants his former quarterback back in the NFL as a member of his coaching staff – and not so much as a player.
“If that was ever the path he was to take, I think that would be tremendous,” Harbaugh told USA TODAY Sports. “He’d be a tremendous coach, if that’s the path he chose.”
During an interview following a training camp practice last week, Harbaugh said shortly after he returned to the NFL in January, he talked to Kaepernick about joining the Chargers in a non-playing capacity. Yet in the months since, there’s been no movement on the possibility.
“Yeah, we talked a little bit about it,” Harbaugh said. “He’s considering it. He was out of the country. He said he was going to get back to me. We haven’t reconnected since then. That was early, early in the year.”
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Perhaps Kaepernick’s reason for not following up with Harbaugh was made crystal clear with his comments to the London-based television network. He wants to resume his playing career, despite a gap of seven years since he last played in the NFL – apparently blackballed by the league after igniting protests during the national anthem in 2016 by kneeling on the sideline.
Kaepernick, who protested police brutality and the killing of unarmed Black men, sued the NFL for collusion and reached an undisclosed settlement. Yet he has never wavered from the position that he wanted to resume his playing career.
“We’re still training, still pushing,” Kaepernick told Sky Sports. “So, hopefully. We’ve just got to get one of these team owners to open up.”
Harbaugh has been one of Kaepernick’s biggest supporters over the years, even to the point of once arranging for an open workout during a spring game at the University of Michigan while Kaepernick was seemingly exiled from the NFL.
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After all, theirs was a bond built on a foundation of success. Shortly after Harbaugh began his stint as San Francisco 49ers coach in 2011, Kaepernick started his six-year NFL career with the team as a second-round pick from Nevada. During the 2012 season, they combined on a march to Super Bowl 47, where the 49ers narrowly lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the historic matchup that pitted Jim against his brother John in the first Super Bowl coaching clash involving brothers. The following season, the 49ers advanced to the NFC title game.
“He’s one of my favorite players that I’ve ever coached,” Harbaugh said. “Love Colin.”
While Harbaugh has no reservations about bringing Kaepernick aboard as an assistant coach (or perhaps a consultant) on a Chargers staff that already includes three former 49ers players who played under Harbaugh in San Francisco (NaVorro Bowman, Jonathan Goodwin and Will Tukuafu), he hasn’t spoken of the prospect of allowing his former quarterback a chance to revive his playing career. Harbaugh, through a team spokesman, declined to comment when asked by USA TODAY Sports this week about Kaepernick’s desire to suit up again.
Of course, that’s the offer that Kaepernick wants to hear.
“I mean, it’s something I’ve trained my whole life for,” Kaepernick told Sky Sports when asked what it would mean to play again. “So, to be able to step back on the field would be a major moment, a major accomplishment for me. I think it’s something that I could bring a lot to a team and help them win a championship.”
If Kaepernick demonstrated that his skills remain intact, the Chargers could surely use him – as an option behind franchise quarterback Justin Herbert.
At the moment, Herbert is rehabbing from a plantar fascia injury to his right foot and is projected to be ready for the Sept. 8 opener against the Raiders. Given that the three other quarterbacks in camp vying for backup roles – Easton Stick, Max Duggan and Luis Perez – are unproven or unimpressive, the timing to consider Kaepernick seemingly lines up.
That is, if Harbaugh wanted to really think outside the box and assess whether his former quarterback still has the skill to contribute in a league that has no shortage of mediocre backup quarterbacks.
No, Harbaugh’s noble idea to lure Kaepernick back to the NFL as a coach might not be enough.
Harbaugh indicated that Kaepernick’s inglorious exit from the NFL – for which the league should be ashamed of – wouldn’t be an issue for him if the quarterback opted to return in a coaching capacity. The Chargers coach is keenly aware of Kaepernick’s stature as a civil rights activist and the respect earned with a large swath of society.
“I see him as a hero,” Harbaugh said. “Heroes get no days off. And he’s being a hero right now and he’s not getting any days off. It’s not for me to choose what path he takes. That’s his decision.”
Then again, if Kaepernick is determined to try to play again before deciding whether he wants to take his former coach up on his offer to coach, Harbaugh, too, seemingly faces a heavy decision.