Jim Harbaugh Doesn’t Hold Back on Working With Chargers OC, Mike McDaniel

Jim Harbaugh has never been afraid to speak his mind. He, and the Harbaugh's generally ooze positivity, no matter the topic. He's long been a fan of his Los Angeles Chargers, starting-quarterback, Justin Herbert. And now, he has a new "toy" at his disposal.

Enter newly hired, Chargers offensive coordinator, Mike McDaniel. Near the start of the 2026 calendar, McDaniel added this new title to his resume. McDaniel was fired as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins on January 8 but didn't spend much time on the unemployment list.

Just 18 days later, on January 26, McDaniel was officially signing on the dotted-lien to become a member of the Chargers organization. Since then, he's been in charge of the team's offense. One of the benefits of taking the job is certainly being afforded the opportunity to coach Herbert.

Jim Harbaugh Provides Detailed Description of Mike McDaniel

But now, it's McDaniel who's being viewed as the uber-talented addition to the organization. And this week, during an appearance on the "Rich Eisen Show" on ESPN, Harbaugh was asked what it's like working with McDaniel. Harbaugh, as always, peeled back the curtain in only the way he can.

"He's so intelligent. Book smart, football smart, all the smarts, street smarts, uh, you name it," Harbaugh said.

Ahead of the upcoming 2026-27 NFL season, Harbaugh and McDaniel appear to be full of pure positivity. And a lot of that is surrounded by the opportunity to coach their starting QB, (Justin) Herbert.

Well, Harbaugh, the coach who produced a National Champion at the University of Michigan at the College level, and brought the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance, appears to defer to the likes of McDaniel and Herbert — at least in terms of intelligence.

"The kind of mirror reflection of that (McDaniel), is Justin Herbert. The intelligence and the football intelligence. It's such a great thing. People ask me, 'Well, how smart are they, coach?' I don't know. They're so smart, I don't know how smart they are. But, I know one thing, it bodes really well for the Los Angeles Chargers," Harbaugh said.

"He's just a great guy. He's hilarious, he's funny. The meetings that he has, I've got my pen out, I'm writing things down, because there's like a nugget of gold that comes out of every one of those interactions. Whether him and I are talking on the field, or in his office, or mine, or in the meetings. He just does it in a way that man, I like to listen to this guy talk. This man sure can talk, and I like what he's saying, and he's got the keys to the offense, and we're all behind him," Harbaugh said.

McDaniel Reveals Moment He Wanted to Work For Chargers

While Harbaugh has nothing but nice things to say about McDaniel after working with him for a few months, McDaniel recently revealed the moment he knew he wanted to work alongside Harbaugh .

And ultimately, over breakfast, McDaniel realized Los Angeles, coaching alongside (Jim) Harbaugh, coaching a (Justin) Herbert led offense, was the next step he needed to take in his career.

"In the morning, I met with Jim (Harbaugh) and John Spanos, and it was in that breakfast, through conversation I was like, let me call Cleveland real quick. I need to cancel some of the stuff I have upcoming because this is definitely the place I need to be," McDaniel said.

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