For the past 52 years, there has only been one member of the 60-60 club in the NFL, but that changed on Thursday after Jim Harbaugh led his Los Angeles Chargers to a 37-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
First, if you’re wondering what the 60-60 club is, it’s when a quarterback wins at least 60 games as a starter during his career and then goes on to win at least 60 games as a head coach. Although we’ve seen plenty of quarterbacks eventually land a head coaching gig in the NFL, heading into the 2025 season there had only been one person ever who had pulled off at least 60 wins as a player and then as a coach (Please stop reading right now if you want to try and figure out who that person is on your own before we give you the answer).
Before Thursday night, the only member of the 60-60 club was Norm Van Brocklin, but he now has some company. Harbaugh matched him on Thursday night with a win over the Vikings. Van Brocklin got to the milestone by putting together a Hall of Fame career as a quarterback before moving to the sideline. Here’s a brief rehash of his career:
Van Brocklin as a QB
After being taken by the Rams during the fourth round of the 1949 NFL Draft, Van Brocklin went on to play 12 seasons in the NFL. He spent his first nine seasons with the Rams (1949-57) before heading to Philadelphia for his final three seasons (1958-60). During that time, the nine-time Pro Bowler won two NFL titles and amassed a 100-36-4 record as a starter. Even casual NFL fans likely know Van Brocklin’s name and that’s mostly because he holds the single-game passing record. Back in 1951, he threw for 554 yards in a game while playing for the Rams.
In the 74 years since then, no NFL quarterback has even thrown for 530 yards.
Van Brocklin the head coach
Although he had a Hall of Fame career on the field, Van Brocklin wasn’t as successful as a head coach. He coached two teams over 13 seasons with six of that in Minnesota (1961-66) and seven in Atlanta (1967-74).
During his coaching career, he went 66-100-7. He officially became the first member of the 60-60 club when he picked up his 60th win in 1973.
Harbaugh officially joins 60-60 club
On Harbaugh’s end, he was an NFL quarterback from 1987 through 2000 and during that time, he compiled a record of 66-74. He made the playoffs three times as a player, including a shocking 1995 season when he led the Colts to the AFC Championship, a game they’d lose to the Steelers.
After his playing career ended, Harbaugh immediately joined the coaching ranks as the QB coach for the Raiders. From there, he landed two college coaching jobs (San Diego State and Stanford) before getting his first NFL head coaching gig in 2011 when the 49ers hired him.
Harbaugh is now in his sixth season as an NFL head coach and going into Thursday’s game, he had a career record of 59-28-1. As a head coach, Harbaugh is a proven winner. In 2010, he led Stanford to an Orange Bowl win and a No. 4 overall ranking in the final AP poll. Starting in 2011, he led the 49ers to three straight NFC title games and one Super Bowl. After leaving San Francisco, he went to Michigan, where he led his alma mater a College Football National Championship in 2023.
Harbaugh joined the 60-60 club with a dominant win over the Vikings. The 61-year-old loves to win with defense and the running game and that’s exactly how the Chargers beat Minnesota. The Chargers rushing attack piled up 207 yards while the defense held the Vikings to just 10 points.
It was fitting that Harbaugh matched the record with a win over the Vikings since Van Brocklin once coached in Minnesota. Also, to tie the record, Harbaugh had to beat another head coach (Kevin O’Connell) who used to be an NFL quarterback.
Over the past 52 years, the only other person who came close to joining the 60-60 club was Bart Starr. The Packers legend went 94-57-6 during his 16 years as the starting quarterback in Green Bay. He also coached the Packers for nine seasons (1975-83) and went 52-76-3, falling just eight wins short of the rare club.
