5-star tactic? Jim Harbaugh posts HS recruiting rankings of Charger players in locker room

Is this another motivational stroke of genius from Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh?

Harbaugh, who led Michigan to the College Football Playoff championship last year, has posted the recruiting profiles for each of his players in the Chargers locker room. It is an interesting concept, to say the least, and one that should get some discussion.

Starting quarterback Justin Herbert was ranked a three-star recruit by ESPN, where he was the No. 26 quarterback in the nation. He was a Pro Bowl pick in 2021.

For those curious, ESPN ranked Jacob Eason top in the class that year. Herbert didn’t even have a picture for his recruiting profile, indicating just how under-the-radar he was.

Recruiting ranking is certainly an imperfect science and ESPN historically does a strong job of their analysis and rankings. But that doesn’t mean that Harbaugh can’t use it to motivate his team.

This is a Chargers team that isn’t a very popular pick to make the playoffs right now.

Perhaps that is Harbaugh’s message to his team: The experts were wrong in their recruiting evaluations. Now the NFL experts are wrong about this team’s postseason chances.

What’s interesting is that Harbaugh’s Michigan teams recruited well, but they rarely were a top-tier team in recruiting.

Last year in what was Harbaugh’s final season and coming off a national championship, 247Sports ranked the Michigan class as No. 19 in the nation. One year prior, they were No. 20 nationally after a College Football Playoff appearance.

Harbaugh has always relied on his own evaluations and the ability to coach-up players during his time at Michigan. Seems like he is looking to tap into that energy again, this time in the NFL with the Chargers.