By now, everyone knows about the meeting.

It took place in early April between Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel, one of the first face-to-face meetings between two men who will help shape and define the Chargers 2026 season.

According to Herbert, McDaniel arrived with a cutup of a "few hundred plays" detailing "exactly what he wanted to see from the offense." This, of course, was after McDaniel had already watched every single one of Herbert's 3,438 career pass attempts.

The meeting lasted two-plus hours, with the Chargers Offensive Coordinator and franchise quarterback hitting it off right away.

"I just think how well put together it was, it made sense," Herbert said in June. "It was really cool and an offense I haven't really seen before.

"I was really excited to play for him and really excited once I saw that to really understand the offense and get into it," Herbert added. "It's exciting to watch and really made me want to get back into football."

But there was also a third person in the meeting — Chargers quarterbacks coach Shane Day — a figure who played a pivotal role behind the scenes this offseason and will be critical to Herbert and the offense's success in the months ahead.

Truth be told, McDaniel and Day — who previously worked together in San Francisco — spent nearly every day together from the moment McDaniel was hired up until that presentation with Herbert.

It was a chance to make a first impression on Herbert, Day noted, and let him know that he could be unleashed in this offense.

"Mike and I both knew right away after he watched all of Justin's throws," Day told Chargers.com after a recent practice. "It was like, 'Ahhh, we're going to be able to do something special.' And that energy has carried forward from the day Mike got here.

"We spent two or three hours together every day and kept saying, 'Oh my gosh, look what we can do.' We've never had a quarterback with his arm strength in this offense. Ever," Day added. "Matt Ryan is the closest [when McDaniel was with Atlanta in 2015 and 2016], but he didn't have Justin's arm."

As the Chargers get ready to open the 2026 season Sunday at home against the Cardinals, McDaniel and Herbert's already noticeable rapport will strengthen and deepen throughout the fall.

But Day, in a sense, is the critical bridge between the two. Especially because he knows each so well.

Day was the 49ers quarterbacks coach in 2019 and 2020 when McDaniel was San Francisco's Run Game Coordinator.

Day then joined the Bolts in 2021 — Herbert's second season — and spent two years the Passing Game Coordinator and quarterbacks coach. And while he was with Houston in 2023, Day re-joined the Chargers in 2024 and has been on Jim Harbaugh's staff ever since.

There might not be a person in the building who knows Herbert as a well as Day. And when McDaniel was hired, Day was the only coach on the current staff who had worked with him before.

"To be able to lean on Shane has been monumental for me to access the previous experiences," McDaniel said. "He got used to me hollering across the hall when I was watching all those passes from all those years.

"Realistically, I'm relying on that relationship … and it's been awesome," McDaniel added. "The accelerated teaching, it's not like Shane knew every adjustment since I last worked with him, but he knew exactly how everything was framed so the teaching was immediate and he could teach it immediately for me. That was the whole key for all of it."

Day knows firsthand what Herbert endured in 2025, when the Chargers offensive line was an injury-riddled mess.

Herbert was sacked 54 times in 2025, the second-highest total in the league, and also faced a league-high 263 pressures. All while playing the final month of the season with a fractured left hand.

"He's the toughest player that ever lived. He was getting killed and we still won games," Day said. "There's nothing I've ever seen like that. Now we have an offense that suits his skillset so he can just go out and play quarterback rather than having to make all those plays."

Day told Chargers.com that while he and Herbert had a brief phone call when McDaniel was hired, he purposely kept it short because the quarterback "needed a break after last year."

But Day implored Herbert that McDaniel could make his life as a quarterback much easier.

According to Pro Football Focus, Herbert took 87 quarterback hits last season, the third-highest total in the league. And he was sacked in every game but one, with 10 games including Herbert getting sacked at least three times.

McDaniel's Miami offense thrived on helping protect the quarterback over the past four seasons, with Dolphins quarterbacks collecting just 175 total hits, the fourth-lowest mark in that timespan.

In 2023, McDaniel's offense with the Dolphins led the league in yards per game (401.3), were second in points per game (29.2) and yards per play (6.48) and ranked fifth in EPA per play (0.087).

Miami's quarterbacks were hit just 29 times that season, the third-fewest hits allowed by a team over the past three seasons.

In essence, it all should bode extremely well for Herbert's health and well-being.

"Plays are going to be open, and the ball is going to be out before the pass rush could get to him," Day said of Herbert. "It's going to be a huge advantage for him because last year he had to be Superman.

"He was running around and making plays, but with this offense the ball is going to be out so fast that he's not going to be hit as much. He was reassured by that," Day added.

So much so that Herbert echoed those words himself earlier this spring.

"I think he's just got a great feel for the game," Herbert said of McDaniel. "He understands how defenses are ever-changing, and it's his goal to be able to take away the pass rush. If you're getting the ball out quickly, there's really nothing they can do about it."

Now, it's not as if McDaniel simply envisioned plugging Herbert into this scheme and imagining video game-like numbers.

The pair have worked tirelessly together this offseason, with a special emphasis on two areas: Herbert's footwork in the shotgun and then relying on anticipation and timing throws.

McDaniel tweaked Herbert's shotgun stance this offseason, encouraging him to place his left foot forward instead of his right, which Herbert had done in the past. Now, when the right-handed Herbert catches the snap, he can essentially plant on his right foot and immediately release the ball.

Which leads us to the second aspect of Herbert's offseason efforts: trusting in himself to throw a pass before his receivers potentially get open.

McDaniel emphasized Herbert to get the ball out in 2.4 seconds or less this offseason, a time McDaniel said usually produces a completion percentage around 80 percent.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Herbert's time to throw during the 2025 season was 2.9 seconds, which ranked 32nd among all quarterbacks.

"That's something you have to just kind of take a leap of faith on early on and just throw," Day said. "As you do, you gain more trust. He's grown exponentially. And most quarterbacks that have big arms, they want to see it first.

"But while Justin is capable of that, he's open to new ideas and trying new things. This just adds a completely new capability to the offense now," Day added. "Because of his arm strength, he can get it out and the defense can't react to it. He bought in from the beginning and now he's very comfortable."

Plus, imagine the possibilities if you combine Herbert's well-known arm strength and McDaniel's creativity as a play caller.

"If you give him the deep ball, he'll take it. If you give him the intermediate, he'll take it. If you give him the check downs, he'll take it," Day said of Herbert. "We can really do anything and they're going to pick their poison and see if they can fool him and get him off kilter, but scheme and personnel-wise, we have good players at all those spots. Justin will just throw it to the open guy."

Herbert's ability to chuck the ball to any spot on the field with precision was something the Pro Bowl left tackle took note of in camp.

"I don't know the routes like the wide receivers and quarterbacks do," Joe Alt said with a smile. "But that ball was going everywhere across the field. I think you're going to see all of that and it's a quarterback's dream to be able to showcase his talent."

Standing at his locker before Week 1, Alt was then asked what the outside world could expect to see from Herbert in this offensive system.

Alt paused a few seconds before answering.

"Justin is going to be Justin. The offense is going to allow him to be his true self," Alt said. "But all the caution tape is off … he's going to show off all of his capabilities, and I think that's what we're excited about. Just let him shine the way he can."

Like Alt, others who are close to Herbert expect him to thrive in McDaniel's system.

"Justin's going to be great. Justin looks great in any offense, but I think this offense, you got a sneak peek of it," said Chargers General Manager Joe Hortiz, alluding to Herbert's 65-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston in the Bolts preseason final.

"He operates it well, understanding it," Hortiz added. "Justin pours so much work in everything he does, so he's always going to chase perfection. Hopefully we can help him be that way."

Wide receiver Tre' Harris added: "It's going to be really exciting; I can say that. I'm super excited for Justin. He does some special things that I get to see in practice. But I'm super excited for the league and the fans to see what he truly can do. He's put on tape before and everyone knows what he's capable of. But this year, he's going to be a different monster than he already is."

Wide receiver Ladd McConkey said: "You all know how I feel about Justin. That guy is a stud. I think he's one of the best in the league and I think he's going to show everybody that."

And Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh said this offseason that he envisions 2026 being "a perfect combination of Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert."

Add in the return of All-Pro caliber offensive tackles in Rashawn Slater and Alt, McDaniel's prowess in the run game that should allow Omarion Hampton to flourish and a polished group of pass catchers that include McConkey, Johnston and Harris, plus Oronde Gadsden, Charlie Kolar and Brenen Thompson among others, and Herbert appears to have all the ingredients at his disposal to put together his best season yet in Year 7 in the league.

But just what exactly can we expect from the Pro Bowl quarterback in 2026?

McDaniel recently said he has "high expectations, not ceilings" for what Herbert can accomplish in 2026.

What does Day think?

"I don't think any of us know. We're going to find out throughout the season," Day said.

"There hasn't been a player that has his feet, arm strength, his touch, his football IQ and his anticipation," Day added. "He's got it all so we're going to see how far we can take it. And this is his first year in the offense, so we're going to see throughout the season that he keeps growing."

The mission, of course, isn't to help Herbert have a career season, help the Chargers have an elite offense and potentially win the NFL MVP award — all of which could come to fruition if health and other factors all break right for the Bolts this season.

No, the end goal is to have Herbert help lead the Chargers on a deep postseason run, something that has eluded both the quarterback and franchise in recent seasons.

It's a topic that both Herbert and McDaniel addressed this offseason.

"You want to be at your best, especially during those elimination games. That's what we're working for now," Herbert said.

McDaniel added: "[We want] to have the strongest version of himself down the stretch of the season in December and January."

After a recent practice, Day was asked to envision a line graph where the upper right-hand side meant an exceptional season for Herbert.

Is the best case scenario for the quarterback way up on the top right of that graph?

"I think it's off the graph," Day said with certainty. "I don't know what his maximum capability is because it's somewhere off the graph. Where we get this year? I don't know."

Day later added: "Our enthusiasm [on offense] is the enthusiasm of the entire building right now. We all think it's going to be something super special … I feel like the sky is the limit for us."