Jim Harbaugh took over as the Chargers head coach ahead of the 2024 season. He had spent the previous nine years coaching at the University of Michigan before finally making his return to the NFL.
Harbaugh was born in 1963 and recently turned 61. He played in the NFL from 1987-2001 and has been a coach ever since. The wear and tear of a life in football, both as a player and a coach, has taken its toll on Harbaugh, leading to several health issues for the head coach. One of the most notable is that he walks with a limp.
Since not every NFL fans watches college football, many viewers hadn’t seen Harbaugh coach a game since he was the head coach of the 49ers from 2011-14. When he returned to the NFL sideline, fans became worried that he was walking with a limp.
Here’s why Harbaugh walks with a limp and a look at his health history from his playing career and more recently.
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Does Jim Harbaugh walk with a limp?
Harbaugh does walk with a slight limp. He has never addressed it publicly, so it is unknown exactly what is causing it. Many speculate that it is a combination of his age and his lengthy playing career. The NFL has cracked down more now on player safety, which certainly wasn’t the case when Harbaugh was under center. He has said that he has had both a knee and a hip replacement.
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Jim Harbaugh health history
The concern for the limp stemmed from an earlier injury this season. Ahead of the Chargers game in Week 6, Harbaugh went into the medical tent. He then went to the locker room but returned shortly after. It’s rare for this to happen to a head coach, so there was a concern. Jim’s brother John, head coach for the Ravens, even cut his postgame press conference short when he heard about Jim’s health scare.
Jim felt an irregular hear beat, so he wanted to get it checked out. It was diagnosed as an atrial flutter, and it was the second one that he had dealt with. Harbaugh brushed it off when asked about it after the game, saying that he would strive to be healthier by drinking more water and less Diet Coke.
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