Jim Harbaugh has helped his brother’s team win more games this season than his own.
John Harbaugh is 5-3-1 in his first season with the New York Giants, including 2-1 with J.J. McCarthy as his starting quarterback. Despite a disappointing 24-21 loss at home to Washington on Thursday night, the Giants lead the NFC East.
Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh is 0-8 in his third season with the Los Angeles Chargers and one loss away from his first losing season in seven years as a head coach in the NFL.
McCarthy and Jim Harbaugh teamed up to win a national championship at Michigan in 2023, going 15-0. So when the Giants were shopping for a quarterback after Jaxson Dart sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 2, they targeted McCarthy, who was No. 3 on Minnesota’s depth chart.
“He always had good things to say about J.J,” John said about Jim. “I mean, I kind of watched it. I was following Michigan when Jim was coaching there. I don’t follow them as much anymore, but when Jim was there, that was a team I watched closely, so I’ve watched J.J. play a lot.”
While the Giants are aiming to go worst to first in their division, the Chargers have been a disaster. They’re off to their worst start since opening 0-11 in 2000 when Jim Harbaugh was one of their quarterbacks.
What’s gone wrong for Los Angeles? What’s gone right for New York?
They went 11-6 in each of Jim Harbaugh’s first two seasons but lost in the wild-card round twice. After the offense was shut down in a 16-3 loss at New England last January, offensive coordinator Greg Roman was fired.
The Chargers hired former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel to replace him and Justin Herbert has unraveled. Herbert, a two-time Pro Bowl QB who has twice finished in the top 10 in voting for the AP NFL MVP award, is having the worst season of his career.
He has six TD passes, 11 interceptions and his 70.4 passer rating is second-worst among starting QBs.
The Chargers were 20th in points last year and 12th in yards. They’re last in scoring at 15.1 points per game and rank 26th in yards at 291.6 this season.
It’s easy to point the blame at the quirky, eccentric McDaniel, who has been labeled an offensive genius and innovator since the Dolphins ranked first in yards and second in scoring in his second season in 2023. They didn’t finish higher than 18th in either category with him in 2024-25.
Herbert didn’t forget how to play football. He has elite talent and his head coach has praised him effusively since he left Michigan for Los Angeles. Likewise, McDaniel didn’t suddenly turn into a terrible coach.
But sometimes a scheme doesn’t fit a quarterback or doesn’t maximize his strengths.
Herbert has an exceptional arm, excels at attacking defenses downfield and has a knack for making plays out of structure. McDaniel’s offensive philosophy has relied on timing, rhythm, motion and quick, precision passes.
Herbert can do it all but he doesn’t have good enough protection from the offensive line and McDaniel had much better receivers — Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle — in Miami in 2023.
The relationship between the QB and OC hasn’t been a problem. Despite their troubles on the field, Herbert has been a big supporter of McDaniel.
“He is incredibly tough. He’s the toughest coach I know and obviously wants to win,” Herbert said after a loss to the Texans. “He’s such a competitor and gives his best every week. He shows up, he’s there all day and night, and wants to give his absolute best for our offense. I feel horrible we haven’t been able to get it done for him yet, but it doesn’t mean we are going to stop trying. We are going to keep working, keep getting better, and doing everything we can for him.”
They fired Brian Daboll in the middle of a 4-13 season and turned to John Harbaugh after he was let go following 18 seasons in Baltimore that included a Super Bowl victory over his brother when Jim coached the San Francisco 49ers.
Harbaugh quickly changed the losing culture in New York. And, the Giants have benefited from playing in a weak division.
They lost their young franchise quarterback when Dart went down in the first quarter of the second game. They lost their best pass rusher when Brian Burns got hurt in Week 3. But Harbaugh has kept them steady and on track.
It helps that the other teams in the East are a mess.
The Dallas Cowboys (4-5) have been too inconsistent to contend. The injury-riddled Philadelphia Eagles (2-7) have lost seven in a row.
The Commanders (3-5-1) saved their season by rallying to beat the Giants after Jayden Daniels tried to give the game away. He threw two picks in the fourth quarter on consecutive drives but New York couldn’t run out the clock. Given a third chance, Daniels delivered a 32-yard TD pass to Stefon Diggs with under a minute left and McCarthy threw an interception to seal the loss.
Still, the Giants are in their best position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2022. The schedule isn’t easy, however. They host Jacksonville (6-2) next week and five of their remaining opponents currently have a winning record.
As for the Harbaugh brothers, they’re more similar than their records.
“I can say this, both are made of faith, family, and football, and nothing else,” McCarthy said. “They absolutely love coming in every day and just getting better personally, so they can affect their collective groups. I’m just so blessed to be a part of a family that is led by a Harbaugh.”
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Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh answers questions after an NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Inglewood, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh reacts at a news conference after an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
DUBLIN (AP) — European nations are seeking an envoy to represent them in talks on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, concerned that a U.S.-backed process will leave them sidelined and Kyiv vulnerable as Moscow and Washington decide the fate of a conflict that has roiled the continent.
Whether Europe should be represented by one person or a team — and who should take on the role — is being debated Friday as leaders from the 27-nation European Union meet at a summit in Dublin. Senior EU officials and politicians have been suggested, but there is no consensus yet.
What the job might entail is also unclear and contested. But there is broad agreement by governments from the U.K. to Ukraine on the need for Europe to join the ongoing negotiations involving Moscow, Kyiv and Washington.
“This needs to be resolved," Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said as he arrived at the summit.
“I would hope that today’s discussions bring clarity around this,” he said. "It needs to be, in my view, finally decided upon within the next week or two.”
Ukraine is eager for support from its European allies. It's reluctant to leave the talks solely in the hands of a U.S. administration that has often seemed to lean toward Moscow’s views. Russia does not want European countries involved in direct negotiations, complaining they are financing and supplying Ukraine’s military effort.
European leaders also distrust U.S. President Donald Trump to negotiate on their behalf after a series of tense standoffs over trade, Greenland and conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.
“Without Europeans, there is no support for Ukraine,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at a meeting of the European Political Community in Dublin on Thursday. “There is no more U.S. support."
“At the end of the day, we will be the ones to define and decide for our future security as Europeans,” he said.
European leaders fear Russian President Vladimir Putin will press Trump to back a peace settlement that weakens not just Ukraine but broader European security. Putin has demanded NATO troops be pulled back from Russia’s borders and that no European forces be deployed in Ukraine.
As envoys from Washington, Moscow and Kyiv met in Abu Dhabi, several European countries, including the U.K., France and Germany, attended discussions nearby.
U.S. envoy Jared Kushner and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after they met in Dublin late Thursday that Europe would be part of the next round of talks. Zelenskyy said Europe would send a negotiating team, adding, "They will have a voice.”
“We cannot conclude this deal without the Europeans being at the table,” Kushner said. He said Putin "is willing to give it a try.”
Supporters of a single envoy, like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, argue that the absence of a united European voice has allowed individual countries or small groups to engage in freelance diplomacy.
“There are too many different groupings discussing the issue,” she said.
Meloni has criticized a series of seemingly uncoordinated initiatives, including an October call to Putin by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, that she said could undermine European interests.
Martin said that European representation at the negotiations “can't just be European Union” because the Coalition of the Willing — a group of over two dozen countries that have pledged military support to help maintain a future peace in Ukraine — “has involved far more than the European Union.”
“It's a European continentwide issue,” he said, pointing to Norway and the U.K.'s support for Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that for Europe to join peace talks, it first must name a representative. “The Europeans squabble like spiders in a jar."
The question of who represents Europe is an old one. Europe itself is loosely defined. Is it the 27-nation EU, the 32-nation NATO military alliance made up mostly of European countries, the 29-nation Schengen zone, or the 47-nation European Political Community?
That has frustrated Washington in the past and present.
After this week's U.S.-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia in the United Arab Emirates, Kushner said that “if Europe could identify one person to speak on their behalf, that would be a bigger achievement than getting the Russians to include them in the negotiation.”
That echoes the famous question often misattributed to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger: “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?”
France, Germany and the U.K., the region’s top three economies collectively known as the European trio or E3, have so far been the most engaged European body in negotiations. But while London is deeply involved with Ukraine, the U.K. left the EU in 2020.
But an E3 envoy would leave out the other 25 EU nations and rankle smaller nations like those that border Russia and Belarus on the bloc’s “eastern flank,” which face constant hybrid threats, including influence campaigns and disruptive drones.
Some back a top EU official for the job. Even inside Brussels, however, there are two leading contenders: European Council President Antonio Costa and the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas.
“European security cannot be discussed without a European voice at the table,” Costa said in Dublin on Thursday. “That European voice needs to be a team effort between European nations, the European Union and NATO.”
But earlier this year, Costa faced criticism within the EU after his office set up a hush-hush back-channel with Moscow.
The perhaps obvious candidate, however, is Kallas, a former prime minister of Estonia.
She laid claim to the envoy role Friday, saying “I’m the one who is representing Europe in the foreign and security policy.”
“I know that the Russians don’t want me, but, you know, do we have a say, who is representing Russia?” she said. "We can’t send any person that has no institutional role like the Americans are sending.”
Another name that has been floated is Stubb, the Finnish president. He has warm relations with Trump and met in Oslo with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Kushner in October.
But some leaders deeply distrust the U.S.-brokered talks. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was critical of the negotiations, reflecting the pessimism of EU countries formerly dominated by the Soviet Union.
“In my opinion, calling them negotiations is an exaggeration," Tusk said Thursday. “We will not build a new security architecture simply because the Russian president, or someone in the United States, wishes it."
Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lorne Cook in Brussels, and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.
Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin welcomes European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the EU Summit in Dublin, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff, right, Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, left, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak to the media at the airport in Dublin, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, speaks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), in Dublin, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, speaks with Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a round table meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), in Dublin, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham, left, sits next to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with other European leaders in attendance, during the Ukraine security meeting as part of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Dublin, Ireland, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP, Pool)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron meet during the European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Dublin, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stands next to French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin as they pose for a family photo of all participants during the European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Dublin, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
