Former Michigan Wolverines football head man Jim Harbaugh is entering his third season as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, coming off two-straight NFL playoff berths. While watching from afar, Harbaugh will be rooting on the Michigan Wolverines, where he was an All-American quarterback in the 1980s and head coach from 2015-23, leading his alma mater to the 2023 national championship.

New Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham was on the opposite sideline in Harbaugh’s first game as Michigan’s head coach Sept. 3, 2015, coaching the Utah Utes. In Salt Lake City that Thursday night, the Wolverines fell 24-17.

Now, Whittingham is wearing the same skinny block ‘M’ on his hat that Harbaugh sported on the sidelines. He has Harbaugh’s support and confidence.

“Yeah, very [familiar with Whittingham]. Great [hire],” Harbaugh said on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast.

“I feel like it’s going to go well, yeah. Nothing but respect for him, and I think he’s going to do an amazing job. I wish him well. I’m like you, I’m the same — go blue forever. And I would even add, go blue — both shades, Chargers too.”

During Michigan’s run to the national championship in 2023, there were allegations that a former low-level staffer violated NCAA in-person scouting rules. However, the NCAA never reported that Harbaugh or on-field coaches directed or had any knowledge of the alleged wrongdoing. Harbaugh was asked when he believes the outside world will realize how dominant the Wolverines were in going 15-0.

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Harbaugh repeated. “It’s really unknowable. First of all, we know. Incredible, is what it was. But everything else is like — in society, in sports, in politics, for sure — whatever is said these days, it’s like probably going to be 50/50 what somebody believes, what somebody thinks, who somebody roots for. You tell them the truth and cross my heart, this is the truth — half are going to believe you, half are not going to believe you. It’s practically a jump ball in today’s society.

“To answer that question, I don’t know, but we know.”

How Jim Harbaugh became ‘Diego’ in Peru

Harbaugh has long gone to Peru for mission work, including while he was Michigan’s head coach.

“The first time we went was in the summer of 2007. I had just gone from the University of San Diego to Stanford as the head coach,” Harbaugh said. “John Denniston [and his wife] are the godparents of my daughter, Addison. Has a Michigan undergrad and law degree. He was like, do you need a place to stay? I was like, ‘Yeah, I do.’ So I was in his guest house. One day, I was like, ‘What are you doing this summer?’ He said, ‘I’m going to Peru.’ I was like, ‘Tell me about that,’ and a month later I found myself going to Peru.

“Doing missionary in Peru, Santissimo Sacramento [Parish], Fr. Joseph Uhen, a Notre Dame grad. Tremendous what he’s been able to accomplish there. Been watching him for almost 20 years going down there.

“Just the opportunity to get to do work, missionary work and also labor, building houses, delivering food. Even my kids go with me, six out of the seven have been down to Piura, Peru. This past time, two new ones, Jack and Katie, just how proud I was that they worked. Manual labor, digging, shoveling dirt and rocks and raking cement and laying a cement floor or building a house for a family. Just incredible.

“As small as that is, to see what doctors do down there. They’ve got a surgery room down there. I’ve watched it grow and grow. Cataract surgeries being performed. These doctors, that’s the work of Jesus. Couldn’t see; now they can see. Now the blind can see. Hernia surgeries just this past year. A man was bent over, now he’s upright. It’s the work of Jesus. To be a part of that, I’m very grateful that I get to participate in it.”

How Harbaugh became known as ‘Diego’ was simply due to his fashion choice — San Diego Toreros gear.

“All my gear when I was going down there was University of San Diego Toreros, USD Toreros,” Harbaugh said. “Everybody just called me Diego. If you want to Piura, Peru, Santissimo Sacramento, they wouldn’t know who Jim Harbaugh was, but they would know Diego.”