(CNN) — Colin Kaepernick might have an option to get back into the NFL, but not as a player this time.
In an interview with USA TODAY, Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said he was keen for Kaepernick to join the team in a coaching capacity one day.
“If that was ever the path he was to take, I think that would be tremendous,” Harbaugh said. “He’d be a tremendous coach, if that’s the path he chose.”
Speaking to the outlet following a training camp practice last week, Harbaugh said he had contacted his former quarterback earlier in the year but that nothing had yet come of the conversation.
“He’s considering it,” Harbaugh added. “He was out of the country. He said he was going to get back to me. We haven’t reconnected since then. That was early, early in the year.”
CNN has reached out to Harbaugh via the Chargers for comment.
Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since 2016, after he sparked controversy by sitting, then kneeling, during the National Anthem before several games to protest the police shootings of Black men and other social injustices faced by the Black community.
In March 2017, he opted out of his 49ers contract and became a free agent. No NFL team signed him. In October 2017, he filed his grievance case against the NFL, alleging that teams were colluding to deny him a job.
The quarterback settled a collusion grievance case against the NFL, along with his former 49ers teammate Eric Reid, in 2019.
Kaepernick and Harbaugh had previously enjoyed success during their time with the 49ers together, reaching the Super Bowl in 2013 – narrowly losing out to the Baltimore Ravens.
“He’s one of my favorite players that I’ve ever coached,” Harbaugh added. “Love Colin.”
Playing hopes
While the door might be open for Kaepernick to return as a coach, the 36-year-old recently told Sky Sports that he still holds hopes of playing in the NFL again.
“We’re still training, still pushing,” Kaepernick told Sky Sports News earlier this month. “So hopefully. We’ve just got to get one of these team owners to open up.
“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. I think I could bring a lot to a team and help them win a championship.”
