Former Chargers Pro Bowl Center Reflects on Returning to Team in New Role

A legendary Chargers center returns to the team he loves in a new role, and he couldn't be happier.

November 25, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick (61) waits to snap the ball during the first quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports / Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESS

With new head coach Jim Harbaugh and a more run-focused offense, the Los Angeles Chargers are set for a complete rebirth. That being said, they haven't forgotten their history.

One way the Chargers remember their past is with the hiring of former San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick as the assistant offensive line coach.

Drafted No. 66 overall by the Chargers in 2004, Hardwick began his NFL career as the starting center when former starter Jason Ball held out due to a contract dispute. Hardwick continued to start for the Chargers for the rest of his 11-year career.

In 2006, Hardwick was named to the NFL Pro Bowl. He was also named to the Chargers' 50th Anniversary Team in 2009 alongside Don Macek.

Hardwick eventually retired due to health concerns when his hands would go numb and he'd lose feeling in his fingers. Since retiring in 2014, the former center has kept himself busy, developing the "Lose Like a Lineman" health and wellness program and serving as a radio host in San Diego.

He soon moved to Indiana with his family where he volunteered as an assistant coach at a local high school. After that, everything changed.

“I was staying up ‘til 1 in the morning, waking up at 5, grading film, doing all the things required to being on a winning football team,” Hardwick said to Sam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times. “I guess I just realized how much I loved all of it. All of it. The film, the practice, the meetings. Just having people count on you is a really big deal for me. Where you are held accountable and you have to get your job done. There’s no getting out of it, and you wouldn’t want to.”

When Harbaugh was hired as the new head coach, Hardwick contacted Los Angeles for an opportunity to coach. He was soon hired as the assistant offensive line coach.

“Nick as a coach is kind of like how he was as a player,” offensive line coach Mike Devlin said. “He’s tough, he’s loyal, he’s relentless, and he’s like a sponge and learning everything. We speak the same language.”

Hardwick has truly taken to his work as a coach, saying how his time working with high schoolers and his sons has prepared him for the NFL.

“If you can coach a third grader a specific technique and give him cues that he will understand, then you can most certainly coach one of these finely tuned machines that when you just make a slight adjustment or give a slight cue, they pick it up right away," Hardwick said.

Current Chargers center Bradley Bozeman couldn't help but agree: “He really sees the game the way we see it.”

“I’ll be honest, I can’t believe that they let me do this,” Hardwick said to The Los Angeles Times' Jeff Miller on April 29. “I think that every morning when I wake up and I’m driving to work. ‘I can’t believe they let me in this place. My key still works.’ I’ve only been here two months, but it’s so special.”

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