The biggest offensive move the Chargers made during the offseason wasn’t to strengthen their offensive line, although General Manager Joe Hortiz did address their many shortcomings in front of quarterback Justin Herbert with a flurry of acquisitions via free agency and the draft.
In fact, with training camp set to begin Wednesday at the Chargers’ El Segundo training facility, their boldest action was to hire Mike McDaniel, a former Miami Dolphins head coach, to replace Greg Roman, who was fired after two seasons. Time will tell if it was Hortiz’s wisest decision.
Hortiz moved swiftly, only two days after a lackluster, 16-3, AFC wild-card loss to the New England Patriots on Jan. 11, to fire Roman and later hire McDaniel, who was sacked after four seasons with the Dolphins. The consensus was that Herbert’s play had gotten stale the past two seasons.
Change was needed.
Pronto.
McDaniel was enlisted to jump-start Herbert’s career trajectory while also juicing an offense that wasn’t living up to expectations. Herbert’s passing yardage slipped to 3,727 last season, a career low for a full season (15 games or more). He was sacked 54 times, the most in his six seasons.
The Chargers’ loss to the Patriots dropped him to 0-3 in the playoffs in his career.
To be sure, a bruised and battered offensive line played a significant role in Herbert’s diminished production, especially with Pro Bowl tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater sidelined by season-ending ankle and knee injuries, respectively. Herbert took a beating and the Chargers suffered, too.
So, enter McDaniel, exit Roman.
“I was really excited,” Herbert said last month of the hiring of McDaniel, his first public comments about working with his fifth offensive coordinator since he was drafted in 2020. “It’s been so much fun getting to talk to him and understand how he sees the game, and I have had a really good time so far.”
One of the first things McDaniel did was take the football out of Herbert’s hands for some spring practices, replacing it with a weighted ball slightly larger than a basketball. The idea was for Herbert to concentrate on his footwork rather than his spirals while also saving on wear and tear on his arm.
McDaniel then shifted Herbert’s stance while aligned in a shotgun formation, moving his left foot forward rather than his right one. It’s one way for Herbert to release the ball quicker, getting it into the hands of wide receivers like Quentin Johnston, Ladd McConkey and Tre’ Harris.
It removes a step.
Literally.
It was something McDaniel did in Miami with Tua Tagovailoa, although Tagovailoa is a left-handed QB, so the process was reversed. It worked to great effect with the Dolphins, particularly in their first few seasons together, when Tagovailoa threw for an NFL-leading 4,624 yards in 2023.
It didn’t take much persuasion to get Herbert to throw less in the spring and switch up his stance, according to McDaniel, who told reporters during minicamp in June, “That’s the amount of fear and intimidation I bring to the table,” prompting laughs from the assembled group.
It was funny because McDaniel, 43, has the build of a marathon runner, standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 175 pounds. Herbert, 28, is listed at 6-6, 236, looking very much like he could play tight end or maybe an outside linebacker position if he had decided to take either of those routes.
In fact, McDaniel was a wide receiver at Yale before entering the NFL coaching ranks as an intern with the Denver Broncos in 2005. He was also an offensive assistant coach with Houston, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta and San Francisco before landing the head coaching job with Miami in 2022.
What happens next, with training camp starting later this week, is anyone’s guess. The first clues will be revealed during preseason games Aug. 13 against the Texans in Houston and Aug. 20 against the 49ers and Aug. 27 against the Rams at SoFi Stadium. The regular season begins with a home date Sept. 13 with the Arizona Cardinals. Expectations are high.
“We’re not winning the Super Bowl or achieving anything close to the way we want to play football yet, but we’ve made a tremendous amount of growth,” McDaniel said last month. “I’m in a great mood, starting with the offensive coaching staff that has really taken the bull by the horns this offseason, and really invested in the guys and the guys have really responded to that investment.”