Jim Harbaugh's arrival in Los Angeles to coach the Chargers has drawn praise for the organization as they land one of the best head coaching candidates on the market to lead their team for years to come.
Chargers fans have waited patiently as conversations become more intense, with Harbaugh's intentions to return to the NFL quite clear. In the end, he is ready to take over a team he once played for and turn things around after they finished 5-12 in 2023.
While Harbaugh will be consulted on the new GM hire in Los Angeles to see who he will work with to build the roster, he also needs to assemble his staff. There's no doubt that an offense with Justin Herbert at quarterback can be an explosive group under Harbaugh.
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Jim Harbaugh is the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. (Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
But what about the defense, a star-studded group but who totally underperformed last season? Former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb believes getting the right hire will have a big impact on Harbaugh's 2024 season and beyond.
“I think this is great news for Justin Herbert and that offense,” McNabb said on OutKick's “The Five Spot with Donovan McNabb.” “But the most important thing is that I have doubts about who will be the defensive coordinator.”
“If you look at the names on that list of the starting defensive players, I mean [Joey] Bosa, Khalil Mack, Derwin James and the list goes on of talented players. But who will be the defensive coordinator to get them back to that top-10, possibly top-five defense, so this offense can continue to be explosive?
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It's a valid question that's probably on the minds of Chargers fans, especially considering the salary hell the team currently finds itself in. The players McNabb mentioned (Mack, Bosa and James) are all players who have been mentioned as potential cut candidates just to lower the cap, which is over the threshold by about $45 million.
With the payroll the Chargers had, they should have been a much better team, especially on the defensive end. They ranked 28th in the league in yards allowed per game (362.9), many of which came in the passing game, where they finished 30th (249.8 per game).
(Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
When your offense is producing, but you're giving up 23.4 points per game like the Chargers did, that's typically not a formula for success.
But Harbaugh is no stranger to what it takes to win in the NFL, and he certainly knows that having the right coordinator goes a long way toward developing a playoff team, let alone one that can compete in the Super Bowl.
That said, McNabb is among a large majority who feel Harbaugh is a great fit for the Chargers.
“So when I look at this decision, I think it's a big step,” he explained. “You've got a guy who has experience having success in the NFL when he was with the 49ers. He's molded a young quarterback like he did with Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick.”
Jim Harbaugh (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
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“Now you have Justin Herbert, who is very talented at throwing the ball and has some athleticism to be able to get out of the pocket and create for the deep receiving corps that he has, which is very talented.”
