INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Only a few days before his debut as Los Angeles Chargers head coach, Jim Harbaugh presented his players with a gift.
They each received a collared work shirt with an embroidered name patch and lightning bolt logo, the sort of shirt an auto mechanic might wear to the garage.
Harbaugh told his players that they probably all had somebody in their family who provided for their loved ones by doing “the tough job, the dirty work so to speak, probably a job they didn’t love to do.” The shirts served as a reminder to the Chargers that they would have to embrace the same selfless, blue-collar mentality this season to get to where they want to be.
That was exactly the gritty approach that the Chargers took on Sunday when they opened the Harbaugh era with a hard-fought 22-10 victory over the visiting Las Vegas Raiders. They relied on their defense to keep them competitive during the first half when their offense was stagnant and ineffective. They wore down the Raiders after halftime with a physical, bruising run game. And they finished in a way that previous Chargers teams seldom have.
When Raiders coach Antonio Pierce ignored win-probability metrics midway through the fourth quarter and opted to punt on fourth-and-1 from the Los Angeles 43-yard line, the Chargers made him pay. They went 92 yards in eight plays to clinch the victory, the decisive play a J.K. Dobbins 61-yard run to set up a Ladd McConkey touchdown reception.
“That was a big statement from the offense,” Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa said. “We’ve had a lot of games that are close at the end, we’ve had the lead and we don’t quite get there. It’s only one week, but it’s big to show that we can do that.”
The disciplined, defense-first formula that the Chargers used Sunday is one they’ll have to duplicate to exceed modest preseason expectations. As defensive lineman Morgan Fox put it, “We put it out there that we’re going to play physical, we’re going to play fast and we’re not going to flinch.”
The encouraging start to Harbaugh’s tenure delivered a jolt of hope to a Chargers franchise that for decades has been synonymous with underachievement and disappointment. The Chargers have burned through nine head coaches and five general managers since their lone Super Bowl appearance in 1995, further alienating their fans with their habit of gagging away near-certain victories.
The most recent regime change occurred late in last year’s 5-12 season that began with playoff aspirations. Chargers team owner Dean Spanos fired coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco in the wake of a dreadful nationally televised 63-21 loss to the Raiders.
“Doing nothing in the name of continuity was not a risk I was willing to take,” Spanos said in a statement at the time. “Our fans have stood strong through so many ups and downs and close games. They deserve more. Frankly, they’ve earned more.”
That sentiment was what led Spanos to hire the eccentric yet successful Harbaugh weeks after he led Michigan to its first national championship in more than a quarter century. The Chargers hoped that Harbaugh would be able to engineer a quick turnaround similar to the ones he produced at each of his previous stops.
At Stanford, Harbaugh transformed a 1-11 train wreck into a Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl champion. With the 49ers, Harbaugh built a six-win also-ran into a Super Bowl contender. At his alma mater Michigan, Harbaugh restored a struggling blue blood to its former greatness.
A few minutes into his introductory news conference last February, Harbaugh insisted that he intended to win “multiple championships” as head coach of the Chargers. It was an ambitious goal for any new coach, let alone one who inherited the situation Harbaugh did.
First of all, the Chargers have the misfortune of playing in the same division as Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. That alone makes their path to a favorable playoff seed more challenging.
Secondly, the roster that Harbaugh inherited isn’t even as talented as the one that won only five games a year ago. Gone are receiving threats Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Gerald Everett, each replaced by younger, less proven players.
Third, there’s that little matter of the Chargers’ infamous home-field disadvantage since their 2017 move to Los Angeles. The stands at SoFi Stadium often are often awash in the visiting team’s colors during Chargers home games. Even Sunday, during Harbaugh’s debut, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce raised his right arm and asked for more noise from his team’s fans with the Chargers facing third-and-15 in the second quarter.
While Harbaugh can’t quick-fix all of those problems, what he has done right away is gain the trust of his players. Practices are more purposeful. Game plans have clear objectives. When the Chargers do drills in practice, it’s common for Harbaugh to be wearing cleats and lining up at quarterback. When the Chargers lift weights, they’ll often find Harbaugh doing squats or bench presses right beside them.
The genuineness that Harbaugh exudes contributes to players taking him seriously when he uses the quirky expressions that he is known for.
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In news conferences, he has described “satisfied” as a “bottom-five” football word and praised the camaraderie-building benefits of his quarterback and offensive line getting stuck in a broken elevator. The night before Sunday’s game, he challenged his team to “turn the worm,” apparently Harbaugh’s way of eliminating the fatalism that once permeated the franchise and instilling belief that the Chargers can overcome their cursed history.
“I take it all seriously, but I laugh at the same time,” Bosa said. “That’s the best combination. He’s entertaining and funny, but at the same time there’s a lot of relevance to the things that he’s saying.
“I feel really engaged in his meetings. I’m always waiting to see what the hell he’s going to say next. It feels like he’s truly a head coach who has a vision and has done it before. You can feel confident playing for him.”
That showed Sunday when the Chargers bounced back from a first half in which they produced 83 total yards and two first downs. Dobbins, in particular, sparked the offense in the second half, reeling off three big runs, the last of which he felt like would have resulted in a touchdown had he been in better shape.
The 135-yard performance from Dobbins was especially meaningful given the injuries that he has endured the past few years. In Baltimore’s 2021 preseason opener, Dobbins tore his ACL, LCL and meniscus and missed the rest of that season. Last season, in Week 1, he suffered a season-ending Achilles rupture.
Now he’s back as one of the potential centerpieces of a Harbaugh team that wants to out-tough, outsmart and outwork its opponents. The Chargers intend to embody their new work shirts that Harbaugh gifted them. They hope to go from powder-blue to blue-collar
“I wore mine to the game actually,” defensive lineman Poona Ford said, pointing to his locker where his work shirt hung. I think Coach Harbaugh’s message was to get ready to go to work. I feel like today we kind of set the tone for what we want to be this season.”
