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Jim Harbaugh: Kaepernick Won’t Coach or Play for the Chargers This year

The head coach said earlier this week he’d reached out to Kaepernick, whom he coached from 2011 to 2014, about a potential gig.

Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, told reporters after Thursday’s practice that Colin Kaepernick won’t be working with the franchise this year. “I love Colin, but he’s not going to be on the coaching staff, which is set for this year,” he said, according to The Athletic. “And he’s not going to be playing on the roster either.” Harbaugh told USA Today Sports earlier this week that he’d spoken to Kaepernick about coaching for the Chargers shortly after taking over as coach in January. “If that was ever the path he was to take, I think that would be tremendous,” Harbaugh told the outlet. “He’d be a tremendous coach, if that’s the path he chose.” Kaepernick, whom Harbaugh coached in San Francisco from 2011 to 2014, has not played in the NFL since the last week of the 2016 season, after he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice. The 36-year-old told Sky Sports on Tuesday that he would still like to return to the league—as a player. “We’re still training, still pushing,” he said. “We just need one of these team owners to open up.”