There’s a concerning, budding idea around the hapless Los Angeles Chargers right now: Jim Harbaugh is doing more harm than good for Justin Herbert.
Most of the attention for the 0-6 Chargers at the bye week falls on offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. His complexity of the scheme, proper talent for the scheme, all that stuff has come under fire with McDaniel so far.
But that’s overshadowing another uncomfortable topic around the Chargers when it comes to how Harbaugh actually fits Herbert, too.
And no, this doesn’t have anything to do with Harbaugh’s gushy exaggerations about Herbert, such as declaring him on the way to being one of the best ever or that he dreams of getting a Lombardi Trophy with his star quarterback.
Jim Harbaugh under fire for Justin Herbert’s struggles
In fact, this idea about Harbaugh hurting Herbert goes back to 2024.
While examining the Chargers’ issues, The Athletic’s Mike Sando put Harbaugh himself under the microscope.
Sando’s most crushing point: “Herbert ranked seventh in expected points added per pass play under two other head coaches and three offensive coordinators across his first four seasons. He ranks 23rd under Harbaugh, and the trend is unmistakable (12th in 2024, 21st last season and 32nd this season).”
We can bemoan how the Chargers spend money or how general manager Joe Hortiz builds out a roster. But that roster has input from Harbaugh.
And it’s Harbaugh who went with his friend Greg Roman for multiple years as coordinator, taking Herbert and placing him in a conservative offense that asked him to play hero ball far too much.
And it’s Harbaugh who had an uncanny loyalty to middling players like Bradley Bozeman in the heart of the offensive line.
And now it’s Harbaugh leaving his comfort zone and dramatically over-correcting with the hire of McDaniel, which is currently doing far more harm than good. Credit for trying to right the ship by doing something that was widely accepted as a good move, but it’s a byproduct of the prior mistakes.
Make no mistake, Herbert deserves some blame too. The overarching franchise and Hortiz, especially so.
But it does feel like Harbaugh isn’t getting enough criticism for holding back Herbert because a few years ago, nobody would have expected a regression for the star quarterback compared to the Brandon Staley days.
Sign Up For the Chargers Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Los Angeles Chargers Newsletter
Add us as a preferred source on Google