Former Charger Hints At Harbaugh's Vision For The Future In LA

After winning a national championship with the Michigan Wolverines, Jim Harbaugh is bringing his physical brand of football to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh reacts during organized team activities at the Hoag Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

After seven years in Los Angeles, veteran running back Austin Ekeler parted ways with the Chargers during the off-season. The former undrafted free agent established himself as a do-it-all weapon in the Chargers offense, proving he was a threat as both a rusher and a receiver. Over the course of his seven years in the league, Ekeler accounted for 4,355 yards and 39 touchdowns on 990 rushing attempts, while adding another 3,884 yards and 30 touchdowns on 440 receptions.

Although he was certainly productive in his role as a Charger, Ekeler, who's now with the Washington Commanders, says that head coach Jim Harbaugh's vision for the offense is one that will require far more of a workload for the feature back.

New @Commanders RB @AustinEkeler on why he and the #Chargers ultimately ended up parting ways...

"They wanted a guy to hand the ball off to 300 times a year... that's not my game. There was a misalignment there, no harm no foul."@heykayadams pic.twitter.com/9KBd1Lmpr5

— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) June 17, 2024

"I think you can kind of see how they've been building the team so far this offseason," Ekeler told Kay Adams on the "Up and Adams" show. "Went out and drafted a tackle first round, brought in some bigger backs over from Baltimore. So it's like, hey, they want a guy they can hand the ball off to 300 times a year and, look, I haven't had that capacity to do that. That's not my game. That's not how Austin Ekeler's gonna be the best on the field. So there was the misalignment there, which, no harm, no foul, I'm going to go find somewhere else where Austin can be the best version of myself out there."

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Harbaugh is taking his "ground-and-pound" philosophy back to the NFL, particularly after having so much success with it at the University of Michigan. During his nine seasons in Ann Arbor, he helped rebuild the Michigan Football program from an annual underachiever into a National Championship program - focusing his efforts on winning in the trenches with a physical offensive line and a relentless rushing attack. Six of Harbaugh's offensive linemen from the 2023 National Championship squad signed with NFL teams, and starting running back Blake Corum was selected in the third round (No. 83 overall) by the LA Rams.

That physical brand of football at Michigan helped the Wolverines win at the highest level in college football, and now Harbaugh is taking that same mindset back to the NFL with LA. With a renewed focus on winning in the trenches, the Chargers made the offensive line a top priority in the 2024 NFL Draft, selecting offensive tackle Joe Alt out of Notre Dame with their first pick (No. 5 overall).

"I know the question is going to come up, 'What about a weapon?' Offensive linemen, we look at as weapons," Harbaugh said after drafting Alt. "That group, when we talk about attacking on offense, the offensive line is the tip of the spear."

Jun 13, 2024; Costa Mesa, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh interacts with his team during minicamp at the Hoag Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Andy Bischoff, the Chargers run game coordinator and tight ends coach, echoed Harbaugh's sentiments when it comes to the offensive line.

“This is going to be an O-line-centric building,” Bischoff said. “When it comes to our strength program, it’s built around the O-line. Everybody else fall in line. Some people don’t value offensive linemen. We do. That will be shown in how we approach everything — from how we stretch to how we lift, to how we run the ball, to how we protect. This is a place where O-linemen are going to want to come and play because it’s an O-line-centric space.”

As for the running back position, the Chargers supplemented the loss of Ekeler by adding two former Baltimore Raven running backs - Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins. The Chargers also used their sixth round pick to select running back Kimani Vidal out of Troy University. Vidal was known as a workhorse during his collegiate career, finishing with the all-time (4,010), single-season (1,661) and single-game (248) rushing records for the Trojans.

There's no doubt that QB Justin Herbert and the passing attack will still play a major role for the Chargers moving forward, but it's clear that having a physical offensive line and a relentless rushing attack is something that remains a top priority for Jim Harbaugh.