While the Los Angeles Chargers haven't made a very big splash as it pertains to free agency, they certainly made one of the bigger splashes in this year's wild coaching carousel.
Just two days after their embarrassing 16-3 loss to the New England Patriots, the Bolts fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who'd previously worked alongside Jim Harbaugh with both Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers. And Roman's replacement, of course, ultimately became former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. It wasn't the easiest process, as the Chargers made the announcement but had to wait to see if McDaniel would get another head coaching gig, but the deal obviously got done.
Now, nobody is ever going to confuse Harbaugh and McDaniel. Harbaugh is more of the hard-nosed, old-school kind of a coach who rolls with a ground-and-pound kind of philosophy, while McDaniel is the new-school guy who takes more of an innovative and speed-oriented approach to his offense.
Nevertheless, people are excited to see what they can do together, and that includes veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks, who actually made a hilarious comparison when discussing the duo.
Brandin Cooks called Jim Harbaugh a "Tonka truck" and Mike McDaniel a "Ferrari"
In a recent appearance on NFL Network's Good Morning Football, Cooks was asked about Harbaugh and McDaniel joining forces, and in his response, he slapped both with a new nickname.
"Well, you got a Ferrari and you got a Tonka truck, Cooks said. "I look forward to it because Justin Herbert can make any throw on the field. That Mike McDaniel offense, as we all know, my favorite tree is that Shanahan offense. [Kyle] Shanahan, [Sean] McVay, [Kevin] O'Connell, that's the best tree in football when it comes to offensive playcalling, so I look forward to Mike going out to the Chargers and making some of those calls."
Now, is it just me, or does Cooks, who is still a free agent, almost sound like he's lobbying for a job? Truth be told, there are certainly worse signings that the Chargers could make, and the 12-year veteran certainly wouldn't be expensive.
He has said that he's looking to join a contender, and there's never anything wrong with having some veteran wideout depth. Perhaps we'll dive into that further at some point, but we really did just think his new names for Harbaugh and McDaniel were hilariously spot-on.
Despite their differences, Harbaugh and McDaniel do share some philosophies, as both typically take a run-first approach to set up the passing game, and both are certainly in the same way of thinking about winning at the line of scrimmage.
Win or lose, the Chargers definitely won't be boring in 2026, not with a Tonka truck and a Ferrari teaming up.