After finally closing his deal to become the Los Angeles Chargers' new offensive coordinator on Monday, Mike McDaniel held his first official press conference for the team on Tuesday. And as one would imagine, one of the big topics of conversation was quarterback Justin Herbert.
McDaniel, of course, spent the last four seasons as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and got an up-close look at his now-current QB just a few months back when the Bolts took a trip to South Beach in Week 6, a game in which Herbert earned a 112.2 passer rating after completing 29 of 38 throws for 264 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions in leading Los Angeles to a wild 29-27 comeback victory.
McDaniel had nothing but great things to say about the Oregon alum, even going so far as to say he's never had a quarterback who has the same capabilities that his new one does. That said, though, the 42-year-old also expressed his desire to design an offense that doesn't rely as heavily on Herbert's individual talents. And after everything he was forced to fight through during the past year, Herbert had to be happy hearing that.
Mike McDaniel doesn't want Justin Herbert to have to do it all for the Chargers' offense
Despite being behind a makeshift offensive line for much of the 2025 season, given the season-ending injuries to Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, Herbert, who was named to his second Pro Bowl, still put together a strong season, completing 66.4 percent of his passes for 3,727 yards with 26 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.
And that was with facing the most pressure of any quarterback in the entire NFL and taking the third-most sacks with 54, trailing only Geno Smith and rookie Cam Ward, who tied at the top with 55 apiece.
Furthermore, given the injury issues the Chargers had at running back, Herbert hit the ground more than he ever has, setting new career-highs in rushing attempts (83) and yardage (498). In fact, the six-year veteran led Los Angeles in rushing in eight of the team's 18 games this season, including the wild-card loss to the New England Patriots.
And this is what McDaniel doesn't want, as he explained in his presser.
"There's a lot of incredible plays Justin has made," McDaniel said. "He's firmly capable, and sometimes, as a coach, you can rely upon that a little too much."
"There's schematic ways to get completions that maybe all three quarterbacks on your roster would be capable of doing...It can be taxing over time for a player to necessitate an incredible play too often to be able to score points and win football games."
"So you try to take it off of him by creating some low-cost, high-reward offense that he's firmly capable of doing, but maybe a player of lesser talent would be capable of doing as well."
McDaniel obviously didn't want to give away everything he plans to do with the Chargers' offense in 2026, but he did offer up a little taste on how he hopes to avoid having Herbert take the beatings he did in 2025.
"Having some quicker, ball-out passes at a higher frequency," McDaniel continued, "so much of the National Football League defense is post-snap.”
“Take advantage of that space with quick throws…One of the best blockers you can have is an open eligible number 1 in a quick amount of time."
Get ready, Chargers fans; the Mike McDaniel-Justin Herbert show is guaranteed to be nothing but pure entertainment.