Just when there was some thought about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick returning to the NFL, it was taken away. Kaepernick was potentially about to join the Los Angeles Chargers on the coaching staff for the upcoming season.
However, head coach Jim Harbaugh has changed his mind about Kaepernick joining. Harbaugh also clarified that the former quarterback wouldn’t be on the roster as well.
“I love Colin, but he’s not going to be on the coaching staff, which is set for this year. And he’s not going to be playing on the roster either,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh and Kaepernick have a history together when they were part of the San Francisco 49ers organization from 2011-14. Kaepernick helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl with Harbaugh but fell short of winning it all to the Baltimore Ravens.
The new Chargers head coach has been interested in the former signal-caller for some time now, reaching out to him shortly after joining Los Angeles. He also mentioned that he considered Kaepernick as a coach while he was at the University of Michigan.
“I have thought that for a long time. Just the respect that I have for the football mind he has and the football man that he is,” said Harbaugh when asked what made him believe Kaepernick would make a good coach. “[Late Raiders owner] Al Davis saw something in me that made him think I would be a good coach, and I see those same qualities in Colin. If it is something he chooses.”
With Harbaugh as his head coach, Kaepernick went 29-16 as a starter, including in the playoffs. But after Harbaugh departed San Francisco for Michigan, the former quarterback went 3-17.
Photo by Jaime Crawford/Getty Images
Kaepernick has been trying to get back into the NFL for some time now but nothing has materialized. However, he hasn’t given up hope even if things seem bleak.
“It’s something I’ve trained my whole life for, so to be able to step back on the field, I think that would be a major moment, a major accomplishment for me,” Kaepernick said. “I think I could bring a lot to a team and help them win a championship.”
Kaepernick has not played an NFL game since 2017 after he began kneeling on the sideline during the national anthem. He has become one of the faces to protest social injustice and police brutality, even if it may have cost him his NFL career.
He will have to wait longer to see if he is able to break into the coaching realm but for now, it won’t be with his former head coach.
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