Jim Harbaugh gave his first press conference on Monday as the Chargers opened their voluntary offseason program. He last spoke at the owner’s meetings before this week. Clearly, he was excited after mentioning April 2nd’s start to the program more than once.
First, Harbaugh stressed the importance of Ben Herbert’s being with the Chargers. In Phase 1 of this install, it seems like a lot of detailed work is being done.
We just got right into football, putting the schemes in offensively and defensively, baseline training. Ben Herbert is huge in this Phase 1.
In his own press conference, Herbert would later discuss the “baseline training” and the Chargers’ players filling out an introductory performance questionnaire.
When asked about how the team would start establishing physicality, Harbaugh went on to say:
We’re really big on what you do speaks so loudly that we can’t even hear what you’re saying. What you do speaks so loudly. The rest is talk. I’m not going to talk, just talk about it. When you get to the point where the players know that they’re physical, they’re dominant, they’ve trained themselves to be there, in that place, then I won’t have to get up here and say anything, they won’t have to get up here and say anything.
Harbaugh laid out various conditioning-related Harbaugh-isms such as “Fat is the enemy of speed” and “Do you want a steel rod in your neck or do you want a noodle?” He and Herbert so far have every intention of trying to carry their sports performance program to the NFL in a more significant way than seen in previous Chargers’ staffs.
Harbaugh played it coy when asked about the Chargers potentially trading the fifth pick. “When does Joe [Hortiz] talk? The week prior to the draft? That’s a phenomenal question for Joe Hortiz. You get to go into as much depth as he’ll go into a week before the draft. [laughter]”
Tuesday was offensive and defensive meetings day. Harbaugh was involved in setting up and participating in both. Special teams meetings will be held on Wednesday.
Harbaugh echoed very positive sentiments of what he said a few months ago on SportsCenter in regards to starting the Chargers’ job. When asked about the first three months:
This is just true, it’s been the best damn job I’ve ever had to start out with I hope that it ends that way, but it’s been a tremendous start. Hiring coaches, free agency — that’s not just one day, that goes for a while — getting ready for the draft. Really excited about the coaching staff and the amount of work that has been produced over the last month-and-a-half. It’s been a lot, they’ve done a great job. It’s been locked, cocked, ready to rock, just needed the players to come in, and we got that today. It’s been really good.
In regards to the new acquisition, Kristian Fulton, Harbaugh essentially said the goal is to get him healthy and playing well. He talked about getting Fulton with Ben Herbert to address soft tissue injuries that have impacted the former Titans cornerback’s availability in the past.
When asked about attendance, Harbaugh reiterated that the program is voluntary. It would seem that not everyone is in Costa Mesa yet. Pictures released on the Chargers’ website of player entrances show approximately 30-40 different players entering the facility, including Justin Herbert. OTAs will take place in May, while mandatory minicamp will be in June.