The Chargers made a move that has Bolts fans ready to rip their hair out. Mike McDaniel isn’t getting stripped of his play-calling duties, let alone fired.
LA made an attempt to silence the hot-seat noise on Wednesday with Jim Harbaugh publicly backing his OC, insisting the staff retains total confidence in McDaniel’s abilities.
“We’re very confident in Mike and his talent, his work ethic and his ability,” head coach Jim Harbaugh insisted, per The Athletic. “We continue to be.”
After 15 full days of bye-week prep to fix a broken scheme, the Chargers are running it right back with the same play-caller. Instead of demanding accountability, Justin Herbert took the podium and shielded McDaniel from the pitchforks, taking the heat off his offensive coordinator by calling out his own unit’s failure to block, catch, and execute.
Justin Herbert Defends Mike McDaniel, Pushes Own Unit Under the Bus
“It’s not his fault, it’s our fault as an offense,” Herbert responded when asked about McDaniel, per Ari Meirov. “We have to do our job. It’s not Mike’s fault. The guys are open. Plays are being made. It’s on us to run, to block, to catch, to throw. It’s on us as an offense.”
“Mike has been very helpful,” Herbert insisted. “He’s such a great coach and such a great leader. To have the experience and expertise has, it’s been very helpful.”
“Mike has done an incredible job of getting people open, and it’s on us to execute and make plays,” Herbert added. “As an offense, we have to come together, execute our stuff, and understand that it’s on us to fix it.”
Not only did the Chargers drop to a historic 0-6 low. The Chiefs game brought even worse lows as the Chargers scored a season-low six points in a Week 6 loss.
They managed just 259 total yards and lowered their league-worst points-per-game average to 15.0 in the 22-6 loss.
Chargers Unwilling to Take Any Serious Mike McDaniel Step
Even their last remaining competition, the Miami Dolphins, won their first game of the season in Week 7, leaving the Chargers as the only winless team this season.
Maybe Harbaugh has a vision with McDaniel, and he has convinced everyone in the building about it, but that’s it. Outside of the building, everyone thinks of it as nothing more than active self-sabotage.
Perhaps Harbaugh isn’t ready to pull the trigger on McDaniel just yet. He knows that an 11-season win last year buys him some grace time, and he runs the show till then. Keeping McDaniel is ultimately his choice, because his job is mostly safe. That is until the bigger front office authorities decide to step in.
There is only so much leeway that Harbaugh will get under his five-year, $80 million contract with the Chargers, paying him an average of $16 million per year.
Admitting Mike McDaniel was the wrong hire six games into Year 1 means Harbaugh is admitting his $80 million vision hit a wall out of the gate. So instead of eating humble pie and making a coaching change over the bye week, the Chargers are choosing to double down on stubbornness, betting that Justin Herbert can somehow carry a broken offense on his back.
Justin Herbert Drops Bold Statement on Mike McDaniel Hot Seat Talks as Chargers Make Decision