Jim Harbaugh on relationship with GM Joe Hortiz: ‘I’m gonna be Robin to his Batman’

Jim Harbaugh is stepping into a new world than what he was used to in Ann Arbor becoming the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Instead of reporting to an athletic director like he did at Michigan, Harbaugh will now work to meet the needs of general manager Joe Hortiz. Harbaugh labeled his expectations for their relationship during a discussion with Colin Cowherd earlier this week.

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” Harbaugh said during an appearance on The Herd. “Good old-fashioned hard work and teamwork, that’s what it’s all about. And Joe Hortiz is here — we go back and we’ve always had a great relationship. That’s what he’s the expert at. And, you know, I’m gonna be there to aid him. I’m gonna aspire to watch, you know, as much tape as my brother does, as much or more than any coach in the NFL watches on the college players and the free agents.

“I’m gonna be Robin to his Batman. That’s where he’s the expert. And that’s the kind of coaching staff, that’s the kind of organization we want to build. An expert in their field doing their job, and then, you know, we’re there to support in that area. … If I do what they tell me to do, how they told me to do it, then I will be successful.”

Deferring to the “expert in their field” is an example of exactly the selfless, non ego-driven mindset that Harbaugh wants to instill in his staff and Chargers players. It starts with him, and the goal is for it to trickle down throughout the entire organization.

“That’s what I want for our coaching staff, everybody in the organization and ultimately our players, right?” Harbaugh continued. “I mean, the players that have a position coach, getting that expert in that position, take the thinking out of it and just listen to the instruction. Embrace the instruction and then go execute the instruction.

“But I don’t think there’s anybody better — and my brother, John would tell you, Joe Hortiz is one of the absolute best. So no, I want to coach the team. And, you know, when it comes to the other decisions we’ll support the expert in that area and do it as a team.”

We will get to see the product of Harbaugh’s first offseason in LA when Week 1 of the 2024-25 NFL season gets underway during the first week of September.