Sports
Column: Vegas might, but don't you bet against Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers
Las Vegas is an escape from reality — unless you’re the Chargers.
While the Chargers enter training camp Tuesday energized by a potentially transformative offseason, Vegas sports books have delivered a sobering assessment of where they stand.
The over/under for Chargers wins this season is 8½.
The modest expectations are more of a reflection of the roster than they are of new coach Jim Harbaugh, who moved to the Chargers on a five-year contract after winning a national championship with Michigan.
Harbaugh has won at each of his previous coaching stops, and there’s a feeling of inevitability that he will eventually win here as well.
“I think he’s one of the most elite leaders in all of sports,” said defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who followed Harbaugh from Michigan.
Harbaugh’s enthusiasm has swept over the organization, which has started taking on his personality.
“I don’t know how you can be in a room with Jim and felt rubbed the wrong way,” general manager Joe Hortiz said.
Hortiz added, “I love him.”
This doesn’t mean the Chargers will suddenly take off the way the San Francisco 49ers did in 2011 during their first season under Harbaugh. That year, the 49ers went 13-3 and reached the NFC championship game. The following year, they played in the Super Bowl.
The season before Harbaugh arrived, the 49ers were 6-10.
What Harbaugh did with the 49ers can’t be overstated. The 49ers were five-time Super Bowl champions but nine years removed from their last winning season when they signed Harbaugh. They were a franchise that was dead in the water.
The speed at which they transformed into contenders was extraordinary, even by Harbaugh’s standards.
Harbaugh was 7-4 in his first season with the University of San Diego. He beat No. 1 USC in his first year at Stanford, but the Cardinal finished just 4-8.
Coach Jim Harbaugh holds the Rose Bowl trophy after Michigan defeated Alabama in a College Football Playoff semifinal on Jan. 1. A week later the Wolverines beat Washington for the national title.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
When Harbaugh was at Michigan, he was 0-5 against Ohio State and 3-4 against Michigan State. The Wolverines became national champions in their ninth season under Harbaugh.
Each of Harbaugh’s teams might have taken different paths to success, but their philosophical foundations were similar.
“There’s a style of football that I think we both believe in,” Minter said. “It requires a toughness and a physicality, an ability to win games in multiple ways.”
On offense, that means dominating the offensive line and running the ball.
That rhetoric is familiar to the Chargers. Last year, then-coach Brandon Staley brought in a new offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore with designs of improving the ground game, only for the rushing attack to regress.
More substantive changes have been made under Harbaugh and Hortiz.
The increased emphasis on the running game was exemplified by what they did on the free-agent market, where their most significant financial investment was in Will Dissly, a blocking tight end.
The Chargers could have used their first-round draft choice, fifth overall, on an impact receiver such as Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze. Instead, they selected offensive tackle Joe Alt.
With All-Pro Rashawn Slater on the left side of the offensive line, the 6-foot-9 Alt is expected to play right tackle. The addition of Alt is expected to move Trey Pipkins III from tackle to guard.
The Chargers are expected to pound the ball with 238-pound bruiser Gus Edwards and reclamation project J.K. Dobbins, who are familiar with offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s system from their days together with the Baltimore Ravens.
Harbaugh is hopeful a consistent running game will create an environment in which quarterback Justin Herbert can thrive. Herbert will enter his fifth year in the NFL still in search of his first postseason victory.
Now, the Chargers shouldn’t be humiliated the way they were in a 63-21 loss in Las Vegas last year. They shouldn’t crumble the way they did when they blew a 21-point lead in a playoff loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars the year before. They shouldn’t position Herbert to have to chase the game time and time again.
That doesn’t happen to teams that effectively run the ball.
But there’s a reason the over/under for the Chargers was set at 8½ wins, as their roster looks like a work in progress.
The team’s two best receivers were salary-cap casualties, as Keenan Allen was traded to the Chicago Bears and Mike Williams was released. Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa are elite edge rushers, but the interior part of the defensive line is relatively inexperienced. The team is also thin in the defensive backfield.
Harbaugh has remained upbeat, calling his job with the Chargers “the best damn job I’ve ever had to start out with.”
“Hope it ends that way,” he said.
Eventually, it will.
Harbaugh has won everywhere, and he should win with the Chargers. Reaching that point could take time, however. Owner Dean Spanos will have to remain patient and committed.
NFL free agency is here!
Well, kind of.
The league’s so-called legal tampering period begins Monday at 9 a.m. PT, when teams are allowed to start negotiating with the agents for players who are about to become unrestricted free agents. No contracts can actually be signed, however, until the the start of the new NFL league year, which is Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT.
So, basically, fans will start finding out what moves their teams make and where various players will land starting Monday morning.
Hours before the legal tampering period started, the Miami Dolphins announced they will release longtime quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The 2023 All Star will count $99 million against the Dolphins’ salary cap, the biggest dead cap hit in NFL history. The money can be split over the next two seasons if Tagovailoa is designated a post-June 1 release.
In six years with the Dolphins, Tagovailoa went 44-32 as a starter, completing 68% of his passes for 18,166 yards with 120 touchdowns and 59 interceptions. He made the Pro Bowl in 2023.
“Wearing this jersey and representing this city has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” Tagovailoa wrote Monday on Instagram, adding: “I also carry deep regret that I couldn’t get the job done and bring a championship home to this city. Miami deserves that, and I’ll always wish I could have delivered it for you.”
Who are some of the other big names in the free agency market? As far as quarterbacks are concerned, Green Bay Packers backup Malik Willis could be a hot commodity. Daniel Jones is a free agent after a strong season with Indianapolis, although the Colts placed the transition tag on him and can match any offer.
Veteran quarterback Kyler Murray was informed by the Arizona Cardinals last week that they will be letting him go at the start of the new league year. The Atlanta Falcons have made a similar announcement regarding Kirk Cousins. Other available veteran quarterbacks include Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, Russell Wilson and Marcus Mariota.
Teams in need of a running back might be interested in the services of Kenneth Walker III, who will be a free agent just weeks after he was named Super Bowl LX MVP as a member of the Seattle Seahawks. Travis Etienne of the Jacksonville Jaguars could also find a new home.
This also seems to be a big year for free agent edge rushers (including Trey Hendrickson, Jaelan Phillips, Odafe Oweh, K’Lavon Chaisson and Boye Mafe) and wide receivers (including Alec Pierce, Mike Evans, Romeo Doubs, Rashid Shaheed and Jauan Jennings).
Check back here for updates as teams begin making moves.
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The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team may still make the NCAA Tournament, but Dick Vitale thinks this iconic program should be much better than their 19-12 record this season considering their whopping $22 million roster.
The legendary ESPN college basketball analyst didn’t hold back his feelings about the Wildcats as they played Florida during Saturday’s prime SEC matchup. After the Gators hit some free throws to extend their first-half lead to 26-19, Vitale started to lay into the Wildcats.
Head coach Mark Pope of the Kentucky Wildcats in a game between the Florida Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats on March 7, 2026, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY. (Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire)
“I’m going to say this right here, I’ve done several Kentucky games, win or lose, $22 million this team [which has been reported] in terms of the NIL for their players,” he said, per Awful Announcing. “I think in $22 million, they could have put together a better roster than they did. I really do.”
The Wildcats ended up losing by a score of 84-77, and Vitale continued about Kentucky near the end of their 12th loss of the season.
“I’ll tell you one thing, you don’t want to walk out of here thinking you got a moral victory,” Vitale said, referencing a hard-fought game against the No. 5-ranked Florida team. “Moral victories don’t count at this level of basketball. And you hear some of the people, ‘We played them close. We played them tough.’
“The bottom line is you’re Kentucky. You’re Kentucky. And you’ve got to leave here with a win, especially at home. There are no moral victories. Come on. I don’t want to hear that.”
Collin Chandler and Jasper Johnson of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrate in the first half against the Ole Miss Rebels at Rupp Arena on Jan. 24, 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Wildcats were once the top program in the country under former Coach John Calipari, who left for Arkansas after being unable to make a long March Madness run in recent seasons, including a shocking first round upset to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats have been coached by Mark Pope since, and they made the Sweet 16 in last year’s tournament before losing to Tennessee.
Kentucky Jasper Johnson in action vs Michigan State at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on Nov. 18, 2025. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated )
But this year, Kentucky is 10-8 in SEC play, and now face the No. 9 seed in the upcoming tournament this week. The winner of each conference earns a tournament berth, but the Wildcats know good seeding in the NCAA Tournament requires a strong run heading into Selection Sunday this upcoming weekend.
The Wildcats will start their SEC Tournament play on Wednesday against No. 16 LSU.
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The Chargers bolstered their efforts to protect quarterback Justin Herbert all while diversifying their offense by agreeing to a multiyear deal with veteran fullback Alec Ingold on Sunday, the team announced.
Ingold’s deal with the Chargers reportedly is for two years and $7.5 million.
Ingold will be no stranger to the Chargers’ plans on offense. He played the past four seasons in Miami under coach Mike McDaniel, the Chargers’ new offensive coordinator. Last year he caught eight passes for 52 yards and ran the ball twice in 17 games.
Ingold caught 47 passes for 372 yards and rushed for 34 yards in 20 carries in four seasons with the Dolphins. He also had two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown.
Before his time in Miami, Ingold played three seasons with the Raiders.
The deal comes two days after the Chargers signed veteran center Tyler Biadasz to take over for the retiring Bradley Bozeman. They agreed to terms on a one-year deal with edge rusher Khalil Mack on Saturday.
With the free agency negotiation period set to begin Monday at 9 a.m. PDT, the Chargers remain in strong position to be significant players in the free-agent market. They rank among the top-five teams in salary cap space, per Overthecap.com.
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