Harbaugh says Kaepernick will not be a player or coach with the Chargers this season

1 of 3 |

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh watches from the sideline during the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Inglewood, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

2 of 3 |

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh fields questions during NFL football training camp Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

3 of 3 |

FILE - Free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick arrives for a workout for NFL football scouts and media in Riverdale, Ga., Nov. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Todd Kirkland, File)

By JOE REEDY

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — If Colin Kaepernick wants to join the Los Angeles Chargers, it will not be until next year at the earliest.

And it will only be as a member of Jim Harbaugh’s coaching staff.

“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 after Thursday’s practice.

Harbaugh — who coached Kaepernick in San Francisco from 2011 through ’14 — told USA Today Sports earlier this week that he reached out to Kaepernick about joining his Chargers’ staff shortly after being named coach on Jan. 24.

Harbaugh said on Thursday that it wasn’t the first time he has touched base with Kaepernick about coaching, and that he mentioned it a couple times when he was the coach at 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 think 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.”

Kaepernick, who turns 37 on Nov. 3, has not played in an NFL game since Jan. 1, 2017, after he began kneeling on the sideline at games during the national anthem to protest social injustice and police brutality.

Not PARSE.LY: Jim Harbaugh

Ravens’ running game was crucial in a big win over the Chargers, especially on 4th down

J.K. Dobbins’ knee injury could be tough news for the Chargers offense

Jackson accounts for 3 TDs, John Harbaugh moves to 3-0 vs. brother as Ravens beat Chargers 30-23

Kaepernick — who played six seasons with San Francisco after being a second-round pick in 2011 — still has hopes though of playing again. He told Britain’s “Sky Sports News” during the recent Paris Olympics that he is still training.

Paris Olympics

The Olympics are more than fun and games. They’re a billion-dollar business with political overtones.
Breakdance will make it’s debut as an Olympic sport in Paris.. Here’s what else will be different at this year’s games.
Follow all of AP’s coverage of the Summer Games.

“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 had a 29-16 record as a starter, including the playoffs, when Harbaugh was his coach. After Harbaugh left to go to Michigan, Kaepernick’s record was 3-17.

Kaepernick was the starting QB in Super Bowl 47 against Baltimore. He was 16 of 28 for 302 yards with a touchdown and also ran for a score in San Francisco’s 34-31 loss.

Harbaugh has three players he coached in San Francisco on his Chargers staff — NaVorro Bowman, Jonathan Goodwin and Will Tukuafu. Mike Iupati and Delanie Walker were coaching assistants during training camp while Dashon Goldson is a coaching intern for the season.

Greg Roman, who was Kaepernick’s offensive coordinator in San Francisco from 2011 through ‘14, is also directing the Chargers’ offense.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Olympic Hightlights

1 of 7 |

FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

2 of 7 |

FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

3 of 7 |

FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

4 of 7 |

Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

5 of 7 |

USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

6 of 7 |

Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

7 of 7 |

FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)