The 2026 NFL Annual League Meeting is almost done in Arizona, and that meant a chance to hear from Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday.
Harbaugh took part in the AFC coaches breakfast in the morning, speaking for 30-plus minutes on a variety of topics including Offensive Coordinator Mike McDaniel, the Bolts recent free agency class and the health of Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt.
Here are five takeaways from Harbaugh's media availability:
1. Mike McDaniel's impact
Harbaugh delivered a zinger right off the bat when he was asked what the past two months have been like with McDaniel in the building.
"Awesome," Harbaugh said. "Awesome with a capital A."
The Chargers Head Coach then went into detail about the insight he's gleaned from McDaniel, who spent the past four seasons as the Dolphins Head Coach and is regarded as one of the brightest minds across the entire NFL.
"Where to really start would be just how his mind is. Just how much football information, how good it is, his expertise at all positions, and on defense, too," Harbaugh said. "He's a real expert in how defenses play different coverages, schemes, fronts, blitz patterns.
"The receivers, the timing between the quarterback, offensive line play, the running backs being tied into the blocking scheme … really been doing a lot of listening, a lot of learning, just leaned in to how he sees football," Harbaugh continued.
"It's really great. And it is what I really thought it was, a perfect combination of Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert," Harbaugh added.
Harbaugh noted that he's seen a "paradigm shift in ways I've thought about football" from being in meetings with McDaniel.
Harbaugh later used an analogy that summed up how McDaniel's mind works.
"How do you make a better candle? Make a light bulb," Harbaugh quipped.
As for Herbert, the Chargers entered the offseason with a clear priority to protect him better than they did during the 2025 season when the quarterback was sacked 54 times in 2025, the second-highest total in the league, and also faced a league-high 263 pressures.
And while Herbert gutted it out, which included playing in front of more than two dozen offensive line combinations and battling through a fractured left hand for the final month of the season, Harbaugh said Wednesday that he expects McDaniel's scheme to keep Herbert upright more often in 2026.
"It's probably two ways. One, it's just less. Less dropback protection. Straight dropback protection, the defensive line can transition into pass rush immediately," Harbaugh said. "The second way is the way the run game and the pass game, play action, are tied together. It takes a second more that you can see defensive linemen [thinking], 'Oh, now it's a pass.'
"And then they transition to their move or their bull or their pass rush. They're going from run defense to pass defense," Harbaugh added. "How valuable is a second? Very valuable."
This corroborates what McDaniel said in late January when he emphasized that he wanted to take some stress off Herbert's plate, even if the quarterback has shown he can play at a heroic level throughout an entire season.
Simply put, Harbaugh is fired up for what the McDaniel-Herbert pairing will look like in 2026.
"That's going to bode really well for the Chargers," Harbaugh said.
2. A look at the O-line
When the Chargers begin the 2026 season, their offensive line is expected to look vastly different than it did during the playoff game in New England.
That should mean the return of Slater and Alt, both of whom suffered season-ending injuries in 2025. Slater sustained a torn patellar tendon during an August 3 practice and missed the entire season while Alt suffered an ankle injury in Week 4 against the Giants but returned in Week 8 against the Vikings. His presence lasted only two games as he further injured the ankle in Week 9.
Harbaugh provided an update on their respective rehabs on Wednesday.
"Good. I've seen Rashawn, he's been in quite a bit," Harbaugh said. "Some of the goals he set when he first got injured and where he wanted to be right now, he's above those.
"I saw him running running [on the practice field]. Looking out the window, saw that and it warmed my heart. That was good to see," Harbaugh said.
The Chargers, of course, will also have some fresh faces up front in center Tyler Biadasz and guard Cole Strange.
According to Pro Football Focus, Biadasz posted an overall grade of 71.5 in 2025 regular season, good for ninth among all players at that position with at least 800 snaps.
Biadasz was also ninth among centers in that group with a PFF pass-blocking grade of 67.1 and was 11th with a run-blocking grade of 71.2.
"The tape, what he's done, it's a high level of play. Just really good," Harbaugh said of Biadasz.
He later added: "The experience, huge. And the level of play, elite. Pro Bowl caliber. He's another one where, all the meetings, he's going to be like a coach on the field. With what he knows about football and the way he can articulate, that experience is right on the money. He plays and thinks like a coach. And he plays like a really good player."
Strange is familiar with McDaniel as the two were in Miami together last season. Harbaugh said Wednesday that, as of now, the 27-year-old projects to be the starter at right guard.
"Yeah, that's where he's been playing," Harbaugh said when asked about Strange's starting status.
He later added on Strange: "Familiarity and availability. As Mike was explaining the offense, and Butch Barry, we were watching a lot of Miami tape. You could see Cole Strange was really good at all the things they would be implementing."
Harbaugh also referenced keeping Trey Pipkins III and Trevor Penning as key moves, as well as the addition of guard Kayode Awosika.
Overall, Harbaugh said he "feels really good" about the current status of the offensive line but said additional moves could be on the horizon.
"More to come. Free agency still continues and the draft is coming soon," Harbaugh said.
He was later asked about wanting to add more competition for starting spots in the room.
"Competing, starters? Yeah, sure," Harbaugh said. "Competitors welcome, you know how I feel about that. There's more to come.
"We're excited about the draft and free agency continues year-round, we've seen that from our personnel department and Joe Hortiz. Before May, after May, August, even during the season," Harbaugh added.
3. Recapping free agency moves
Harbaugh arrived to his table Wednesday with a piece of paper in his pocket that included most of the key free agent signings the Chargers had in recent weeks.
Shortly before he rattled off the names, he summed up how he thought the Chargers attacked that portion of the offseason.
"Really good, so much good. It was a great March," Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh later dove into some key players on both sides of the ball that he's excited to see in powder blue, including running back Keaton Mitchell.
The former Ravens running back is expected to form a three-headed attack with Omarion Hampton and Kimani Vidal. Mitchell had 341 rushing yards on 59 attempts, good for 5.8 yards per carry in 2025. That average was first among running backs with at least 50 carries last season, and he also added 11 runs of 10-plus yards.
Harbaugh mentioned "speed into the defense" when describing Mitchell and his 4.39 ability.
"Probably the most exciting thing is the combination of Omarion and Kimani and Keaton, just a real 'Thunder and Lightning' type of backfield," Harbaugh said.
Defensively, Harbaugh expects defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson to add some beef up front in the trenches.
Tomlinson, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 335 pounds, has played in 142 career games.
"Really good player, really great competitor, good guy," Harbaugh said. "A guy you like to go to work with. 'Work together, win together' kind of guy.
"Good run stopper, good physical presence up the middle. Think he'll really help our run wall, push the pocket," Harbaugh added.
Harbaugh also commented on the return of defensive tackle Teair Tart, who signed a multi-year contract extension in January.
"That was a huge signing. And he's in a great place. He came back in about a week ago and mentally, physically, he's in the best place he's been since he's been here. And he's been pretty good before. I think he got a really good start on this offseason, healthy and been attacking it."
Tart saw an increased workload in 2025 and was even better in Year 2 with the Bolts, posting a 74.7 PFF run defense grade, good for fifth among all linemen with at least 240 snaps.
4. Adding an edge rusher?
The edge rusher group has been a buzz-worthy position of late as its been a popular projection in recent Chargers mock drafts.
The position was also a hot topic Wednesday as Harbaugh received multiple questions on it, beginning with the return on Khalil Mack, who re-signed with the Bolts before free agency began.
"Khalil Mack, that was just huge. Everything that he brings to our team as a player, leader, consummate competitor," Harbaugh said of Mack, who has 113.0 career sacks. "Example setter, whatever he's doing is setting the tone.
"Every single player can look at him and watch him, study him, emulate him. It's just so simple and he means so much to our team," Harbaugh added.
Tuli Tuipulotu is coming off his first Pro Bowl after notching 13.0 sacks and 23 quarterbacks hits, recording three multi-sack games including a massive 4.0-sack performance in Week 4 against the Giants.
He also racked up 49 total tackles to go along with 20 tackles for loss, three passes defensed, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
"He's always been good, but he's really getting the respect he deserves as a football player. Excited for this year for him. I feel really good about the room," Harbaugh said.
That room currently includes veteran Bud Dupree and Kyle Kennard, a 2025 fourth-round pick who saw limited action as a rookie.
"Bud Dupree, excellent football player. Kyle Kennard's been having a good offseason. Excited for him for Year 2, he'll have an outstanding opportunity," Harbaugh said.
"But there will be more," Harbaugh said about potential additions to the room.
5. In the lab with O'Leary
Finally, Harbaugh noted his excitement with new Defensive Coordinator Chris O'Leary, who was added to the coaching staff in February.
O'Leary spent the 2024 season as the Chargers safeties coach before becoming Western Michigan's defensive coordinator last season.
Western Michigan's defense allowed at least 20 points in their first three games of the season but opponents only hit that mark twice in the final 11 games of 2024.
Overall, O'Leary's defense ranked second in the Mid-America Conference in scoring defense (17.4 points per game), a mark that was also good for ninth in all the FBS.
The unit was also second in yards allowed per game (305.5) in the MAC and 19th in the country allowing 179.9 passing yards per game.
With the Chargers looking for a new DC after Jesse Minter left to become the Ravens Head Coach, Harbaugh tabbed O'Leary as the next young defensive coach to lead his defense in the same mold of Minter and Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks Head Coach who was with Harbaugh at Michigan.
O'Leary and Minter have known each other for over a decade from their time together at Indiana State, where O'Leary was a scout team quarterback who later transitioned to wide receiver. Minter, meanwhile, was a linebackers coach and defensive coordinator.
"It's been great. It's been so good in terms of being a football laboratory," Harbaugh said of O'Leary. "Working, growing, he's different from Jesse, who was different from Mike Macdonald.
"You really have to get into that football lab and talk it out and our guys have been doing that," Harbaugh added.
