Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh announced Wednesday that offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel will remain in charge of play calling, despite a winless start to the season.
"We're very confident in Mike and his talent, his work ethic and his ability," Harbaugh told reporters, according to The Athletic. "We continue to be." Harbaugh said the decision followed the organization's self-scouting during the bye week. "I feel like every stone, any part that we could look to better, that's the way we responded," he said.
The Chargers enter the next stretch as the only team in the league without a victory. Before the Week 7 bye, they scored a season-low six points in a 22-6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, finishing with just 259 total yards. The result dropped them to 0-6 and lowered their points-per-game average to 15.0, the worst in the NFL.
McDaniel was fired in January after four seasons as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. He joined the Chargers in the offseason to energize an offense that had scored only one touchdown across two playoff losses under Harbaugh.
McDaniel said his goal was to help quarterback Justin Herbert, whom he called as talented a quarterback as he had ever been around, "own" the position. That work started in the offseason when Herbert changed his shotgun stance, moving his left foot in front of his right. McDaniel has made the same adjustment with other quarterbacks, most recently Tua Tagovailoa in Miami, who earned his only Pro Bowl selection in his second year under McDaniel.
Herbert also took days off from throwing at practice, instead working on footwork while going through a throwing motion with a green water ball as McDaniel watched closely.
The results on the field have not followed. Both the offense and Herbert have struggled, with the quarterback throwing interceptions directly to defenders. He was picked off by Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson in Week 3, then threw two more in Week 4 to Seattle Seahawks linebackers Drake Thomas and Ernest Jones IV. Herbert, whom many regard as one of the league's top quarterbacks, is tied for the NFL lead with eight interceptions this season.
McDaniel arrived in Los Angeles with a reputation as one of the most respected play callers in the league, having overseen some of the most productive offenses in NFL history. In 2023, his Dolphins beat the Denver Broncos 70-20, gaining more than 700 yards in the game and tying the record for points scored in a single game.
