The LA Chargers have some fresh old faces returning to the NFL by acquiring Head Coach Jim Harbaugh and Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman. Harbaugh, fresh off a National Championship win with Michigan, and Roman taking a small hiatus from the NFL after three years as the Ravens offensive coordinator, The LA Chargers have some championship contenders in their new coaching staff. But that's on paper, though. To be fair, the Chargers desperately needed a new head coach at the helm following the firing of Brandon Staley after the 2023 season. To give Staley some credit, he did help with QB Justin Herbert's development into a stellar QB with a fantastic IQ for the game. But given that the Chargers seasons kept getting worse and worse under Staley, going from a 9-8 in the 2021 season, a 10-7 with a playoff appearance in the 2022 season, to a 7-9 in the 2023 season (also lost star wide receiver Keenan Allen to free agency), the Chargers went shopping for another head coach and coordinator to help them reinvent their offense. Enter Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman
To give credit where credit is due, Jim Harbaugh is coming off a National Championship win with Michigan, of which had not won a National Championship since the somewhat less controversial 1997 college season. Not to mention, Jim Harbaugh led the helm as Head Coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, even leading them to a Super Bowl appearance in the 2012 season. Greg Roman is an established coordinator who has helped lead the development of young talents, most notably Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, winning his first MVP during the 2019 season, as well as being on the same coaching staff with Jim Harbaugh during the 49ers' Super Bowl appearance in 2012. So, with the reunion of Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman in LA, you'd think the Chargers would finally be a contender in the AFC but don't be fooled.
Jim Harbaugh has a concept that would leave me nervous as an LA fan: he hires his friends. Do not get me wrong, hiring a friend always a feeling of pride and strengthens the bond between the two, but when it comes down to a sports team, I would be very careful and observant of who I hire as my right-hand. Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh have a relationship that dates back to his time with the 49ers, and Jim even played a part in the hiring of Greg Roman to the Baltimore Ravens back in 2017. On another note, Harbaugh has a tendency to put a strain on the relationship between the front office and himself. He left the 49ers in 2014 because he and the front office management could not get on the same page on anything, and it came to a breaking point. Personally, I would be hesitant to accept this new offense, especially with the coaching moves Jim Harbaugh has made.
Greg Roman is what makes me nervous the most if I were an LA fan. I'd actually go as far as disappointed. Sure, Roman has some accolades to his resume, including winning AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year back in 2019, but he has a problem that fans have disliked for years on whichever team he has coached with: he does not evolve his game plan. Roman loves to utilize the run game as his main focus of offensive attack, but teams have caught on to his "game plan" many times. Look at the 49ers after the 2012 season. In 2013, they went 12-4, losing in the NFC Championship to the Seattle Seahawks. 2014, went 8-8. A slow decline of a team that has been in the championship conversation since its formation.
Another prime example is the Baltimore Ravens after the 2019 season. 2020 season, they went 11-5. 2021 season, 8-9 (Lamar Jackson suffered an injury and did not play the rest of the NFL season after Week 14). 2022, 10-7 (Lamar Jackson was injured again in Week 13 and did not play the rest of the NFL season). Ravens fans and players alike were dying for something different on offense, going as far as to heckle Roman when he left stadiums and even infiltrating the Ravens training facility with flyers that read "FIRE ROMAN" all over the buildings. Can I also mention he was fired as the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills in 2016 after two seasons? The Bills fired him after starting the season 0-2 (they went 7-9 during the 2016 season and made the playoffs for the first time in 18 years in 2017).
Overall, I'm not that excited for the LA Chargers, I do not believe they will make the playoffs this year because of their staff hirings. But that does not mean I can't be proven wrong, and also, it doesn't mean the Chargers won't make the playoffs again next season. But right now, it was a mistake to hire Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman to lead the offense. I don't think Justin Herbert will throw up numbers as high as Patrick Mahomes. I'd even go as far as to say that he would be a middleman in terms of yards and touchdowns thrown. But we will have to wait and see what happens when this season gets underway.
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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