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Alohi Gilman remembers when Kyle Hamilton was struggling to adapt to the rigor of Notre Dame football.

“He was having a hard time as a freshman, wanted to quit, but I had to keep him in shape,” Gilman joked. “And now he’s an All-Pro.”

Hamilton is Gilman’s teammate again following a Tuesday-night trade between the Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers that sent outside linebacker Odafe Oweh and a 2027 seventh-round pick to Los Angeles in exchange for Gilman and a 2026 fifth-round pick.

The trade caught Gilman, who had spent his entire five-plus-year career with the Chargers, off guard. Twenty-four hours later, he said he was running on maybe three hours of sleep and still processing it.

It’s been hard, he said, especially because he has a young family, including a daughter and a pregnant wife. But it has helped that everyone, including his old teammate, has welcomed him.

It also helps that Gilman has a lot of connections beyond just Hamilton, whom he called his “brother.”

Gilman, who hails from Laie, Hawaii, briefly lived in Annapolis when he played for the Naval Academy in 2016, his first year of college. He started 12 of 14 games and finished second on the team in tackles and pass breakups.

Gilman transferred to Notre Dame the next season, but Maryland “has a special place in my heart,” he said.

Coming from the Chargers organization, Gilman also understands what it means to play for a Harbaugh, even if Jim and John have different personalities.

“I’m excited to see the similarities and differences,” Gilman said. “Obviously, I’ve got a lot of respect for both of them. Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers, and John, obviously the history that he’s made here.”

Gilman is the latest of many people traveling back and forth between the teams’ facilities since Jim Harbaugh became the Chargers’ head coach in 2024. Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz came from the Ravens front office, and he’s signed former Ravens including running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, offensive lineman Bradley Bozeman and safety Tony Jefferson.

“Shoutout to T. Jeff [Jefferson],” Gilman said. “Since he’s been with the Chargers, he’s always repping the Ravens, and I used to get on him for it. And now I’m here.”

Still, the trade was a surprise to the Harbaugh brothers.

“I didn’t talk to Jim about it until after it went down, so it wasn’t anything we were talking about,” John Harbaugh said Wednesday. “It was between [general manager] Eric [DeCosta] and Joe and the personnel departments on both sides. But we had a chance to consider it in terms of what was best, big picture, for our team, for our defense.”

When Jim Harbaugh arrived in Los Angeles, Gilman said, they studied a lot of Ravens film, so he also has familiarity with the defense. Although every coordinator puts his own spin on his own defense, there is crossover between Jesse Minter’s defense in Los Angeles and Zach Orr’s in Baltimore. Minter was on Baltimore’s defensive staff from 2017-20.

Gilman, who became a regular starter for the Chargers in 2023, had 50 tackles, four passes defended, one interception and one sack in his first season under Jim Harbaugh. This season, he has 22 tackles and three passes defended in five games.

Gilman said he’s excited to work with Orr and secondary coach Chuck Pagano. But he’s walking into a dismal season when the defense, including the secondary, has fallen below expectations.

“Alohi is going to give us a lot,” John Harbaugh said. “It’s a veteran safety. It’s in a very similar system. He’s a proven player. Had a really good practice today. I think he’s a good fit for us right now and what we’re looking for. It’s a piece that we’ve kind of been looking for as we’ve went ... throughout the season so far.”

Gilman said he hopes he can be a playmaker. He said he can add flexibility, his instincts (which are honed by many more years of experience than the other safeties in the room), communication and passion.

“Obviously, I’ve got some chemistry with Kyle,” Gilman said. “Hopefully, we can get him in the best spots possible for him to thrive and flourish.”

Hamilton was seen explaining and pointing things out to Gilman throughout the portion of practice open to media members.

With the Los Angeles Rams coming to town Sunday, Gilman has three days to learn his new defense and to learn the opponent.

At least he has a head start on the latter part.

“Luckily, I’ve had open practices with the Rams almost every year that I’ve played with the Chargers, so I’ve got a pretty good understanding of what they kind of do,” Gilman said. “I think the coaching staff here has done a great job of trying to slowly install things and see how we can tie the knots together. ... So I’m going to be up all night — I’ve been already up, so we’re going to just keep it rolling."