1 hour ago
1
After a four-year stint as Dolphins head coach, Mike McDaniel landed with the Chargers as their offensive coordinator in 2026.
McDaniel and head coach Jim Harbaugh certainly make for an intriguing coaching combination. While there are months until the Chargers will suit up for a game, so far, the two men have been working well together.
"Awesome," Harbaugh said Tuesday, via Eric Smith of the Chargers’ website, when asked how it’s been having McDaniel in the building. "Awesome with a capital A.”
Harbaugh noted he’s gained plenty of insight from McDaniel since the OC has been in Southern California, saying he’s had a "paradigm shift in ways I've thought about football.”
"Where to really start would be just how his mind is. Just how much football information, how good it is, his expertise at all positions, and on defense, too," Harbaugh said. "He's a real expert in how defenses play different coverages, schemes, fronts, blitz patterns.
"The receivers, the timing between the quarterback, offensive line play, the running backs being tied into the blocking scheme … really been doing a lot of listening, a lot of learning, just leaned in to how he sees football," Harbaugh added. “It's really great. And it is what I really thought it was, a perfect combination of Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert.”
Harbaugh noted he feels like the pairing with McDaniel as offensive coordinator and Herbert is “going to bode really well for the Chargers,” as McDaniel’s scheme is designed to better protect the QB.
“It's probably two ways. One, it's just less … dropback protection. Straight dropback protection, the defensive line can transition into pass rush immediately," Harbaugh said. "The second way is the way the run game and the pass game, play action, are tied together. It takes a second more that you can see defensive linemen [thinking], 'Oh, now it's a pass.’
"And then they transition to their move or their bull or their pass rush. They're going from run defense to pass defense," Harbaugh added. "How valuable is a second? Very valuable."
Herbert was sacked a career-high 54 times in 2025 while throwing interceptions at the highest rate of his career (2.5 percent, 13 total picks). He completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 3,727 yards with 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season.
