Jim Harbaugh Must Make Changes to Save Justin Herbert From the Chargers

After another quick playoff exit for the Chargers, it's time for Harbaugh to do things differently and help Herbert avoid the fates of Philip Rivers and Dan Fouts before him.

In two seasons, Harbaugh has led the Chargers to identical 11–6 records, culminating in wild-card round playoff exits. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Drake Maye’s heroics and toughness in his first NFL playoff game have made it increasingly difficult to defend Justin Herbert. But I’m going to do my best to defend the Chargers’ supremely talented quarterback anyway. 

Blame coach Jim Harbaugh for how high he’s propped up Herbert from criticism since being hired in 2024. This is the same coach who dreams about making Herbert a Hall of Famer. Harbaugh would look deep into your eyes and tell you that coaching Herbert is the greatest accomplishment of his life without cracking a smile. It sounds delusional, but he’s dead serious, and now Harbaugh needs to back up his words by making drastic changes to help his star quarterback. He needs to save Herbert from the Chargers squandering the career of another franchise signal-caller. 

Herbert played poorly in an ugly 16–3 wild-card loss in New England on Sunday night. But he’s not the problem. It’s everyone else around him that’s the problem. It doesn’t matter that he’s 0–3 in the postseason in six seasons. Yes, forget about the 27-point collapse in Jacksonville, the four-interception performance in Houston and that he couldn’t make a play against a stout New England defense when Maye managed to do it against a defense just as good, if not better. 

You can’t give Herbert the sole blame for the playoff failures because that would ultimately mean moving on from him, and you can’t trade a quarterback as gifted as him in the midst of his prime. This is why the Lions held onto Matthew Stafford for a dozen years before trading him to a better franchise capable of providing a winning environment.

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The Chargers haven’t reached Stafford territory with Herbert yet, but they’re definitely the old Lions in this situation. They became complacent with Philip Rivers and wasted his prime years before finally moving on from him after 16 seasons. This organization screwed up Rivers so badly that he may still have been attempting to fill the Super Bowl void by ending a five-year retirement at age 44, only to lose three games with the Colts, which came at a price. Rivers now needs to wait another five years to have a shot at the Hall of Fame, but it is nice to have free health and dental insurance for the next few years, considering that he has 10 children. Obviously, Rivers didn’t return just to chase a Super Bowl, but maybe Herbert has taken notice of how the Chargers failed to provide one for Rivers and would prefer not be a middle-aged quarterback without a ring.  

Rivers and Hall of Fame Charger Dan Fouts would have loved playing for Harbaugh because of how he speaks about his quarterbacks, but those are just words. Actions speak louder, and this was the same coach who ditched Alex Smith for Colin Kaepernick and immediately made a Super Bowl run in San Francisco. I’m sure Harbaugh is well aware that Herbert is a better quarterback option than what he had with the 49ers. 

Herbert is just as talented as Andrew Luck, a quarterback coached by Harbaugh at Stanford before taking a beating with the Colts and retiring after seven seasons. At some point, it gets tiring having to carry a team every single year, only to take the majority of the blame after disappointing results. 

You can’t think of Herbert as the problem when he could easily ask for a trade or not re-sign in Los Angeles in a few years, possibly leaving the organization in shambles if he were to go. The Chargers need him to succeed and it’s up to Harbaugh to fix this. 

Harbaugh needs to make drastic changes to help Herbert, and his first move might be to fire his longtime offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who has gotten mixed results the past two seasons. The Chargers can’t just keep leaning on injuries as an excuse. 

It didn’t help that rookie first-round running back Omarion Hampton was unable to contribute against the Patriots and that stud bookend tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater have been sidelined for most of the season. 

But Patriots coach Mike Vrabel provided ways to help his second-year quarterback find his footing while he struggled with accuracy for most of the game. Vrabel leaned on shutdown cornerback Christian Gonzalez and prized free-agent acquisition Milton Williams to frustrate Herbert, who went 19-of-31 for 159 yards with one lost fumble and was sacked six times. 

Despite the injuries, Harbaugh still had Keenan Allen and Ladd McConkey to aid Herbert and all the Chargers could do was throw sideline passes to Quentin Johnston. There were no coaching adjustments to aid Herbert on quick throws. Having a good defense, led by hotshot coaching candidate Jesse Minter, still wasn’t enough for Harbaugh to prevail against Vrabel—these were the two biggest coaching hires of the past two years. 

As you can tell, I have shifted the blame of this latest playoff debacle in Chargers history to Harbaugh. He was hired to help this organization, not ruin another quarterback with Hall of Fame talent.

All eyes are now on Harbaugh to avoid having Herbert request a trade in a few years because that’s where the Chargers are headed. Enough with the delusional words, as now it’s time to actually create real changes to get Herbert into the Hall of Fame as a Charger. 

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