SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mike McDaniel has brought his Miami vibe to Southern California, both on and off the field.
The Los Angeles Chargers' new offensive coordinator showed up for a pre-practice news conference at the University of San Diego wearing sunglasses, as well as his customary rolled-up joggers and a pair of bright gold Nikes.
“I'm really excited to be here. I’m not excited that I’m completely unprepared for an indoor press conference as I’m wearing
sunglasses inside,” McDaniel said Tuesday morning, explaining that his transition lenses "are failing right now, so I meant to have not sunglasses on.
“I am prepared for practice, though, which I think is better news. And Ron Burgundy wasn't lying. This place is sweet."
McDaniel invoked the fictional newscaster from “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” before the Chargers wrapped up their two-day visit to their former hometown with a light practice at 6,500-seat Torero Stadium, where Jim Harbaugh began his head coaching career 22 years ago.
Harbaugh, heading into his third season as the Bolts' coach, hired McDaniel less than three weeks after he was fired as head coach following a four-year run with the Dolphins. McDaniel went 35-33, with wild-card losses after each of his first two seasons.
The idiosyncratic McDaniel is one of the top offensive minds in football. He's bringing his speed-based schemes and high-flying attacks to a Chargers offense that ranked 12th in the NFL last season.
He's working to get franchise quarterback Justin Herbert to make quicker throws, in large part to help keep him upright. Herbert absorbed the most sacks and hits of his six-year career last season, culminating when he was sacked six times in a 16-3 AFC wild-card game loss to the New England Patriots. It was the second playoff one-and-done under Harbaugh, who's gone 11-6 in each of his two seasons with the Bolts.
“I think one of the attractive things coming to the Chargers was the roster that was already built as, you know, all the recent draft picks were targets of mine on the other side of the country,” McDaniel said. "As a group, I talked to the offense the first day of the offseason back in April, about being fast, physical, with elite technique.
“So what that looks like is, it doesn’t mean with your 40 time that you’re a fast guy. It means everyone playing to their full speed, shocking the defense at the snap, a physical brand of football with elite technique and fundamentals.”
Tuesday was the team's first practice in pads.
Earlier in the offseason, McDaniel said Herbert was a bit nervous making throws earlier in his reads.
“To be clear, he wasn’t as nervous as he was proposing,” McDaniels quipped, referring to Herbert’s recent engagement to Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Madison Beer.
“But he was still nervous. Absolutely. You know, I think that's been my favorite part of practice, that alongside some of the growth we’ve had up front in terms of our line of scrimmage play," McDaniels said. "But with Justin, full lean-in, full buy-in. And I can’t stress it enough. It's very difficult for high performers to do things outside of what has given them success.”
Herbert threw an interception on Tuesday and McDaniel was OK with it.
“What you’re asking a quarterback to do is not succumb to the compass of results,” McDaniel said. “It’s the process of how we’re doing things and his investment and full immersion into that process. Yesterday, he threw a pick, simply because he’s leaning into the process and getting comfortable with all the different things we’re asking him to do.
“On that particular play, he has his eyes set on an eligible here and reset the throw and got an incredible learning experience that will benefit him in the game,” McDaniel said. "So it's to his credit. He's really progressing as fast as one could even picture, much faster than I was planning for. The Chargers organization is doing well by his daily effort, for sure."
Tackle Joe Alt, who is back after season-ending ankle surgery in November, spoke highly of McDaniel.
“I love coach McDaniel," Alt said. ”The way he approaches offensive game planning and playing has been really fun for me to learn. I look forward to being able to continue to work down this path through training camp and into games and continue to build because it's a lot of fun. I think a lot of guys will say it: He's a wizard. It's exciting to see what we'll be able to do."
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