Eyebrows raise. The eyes move back and forth. Rooster heads to the side.
When Jim Harbaugh starts talking, Chargers players never really know how to react.
“It’s like a really fun wild roller coaster,” quarterback Taylor Heinicke said, “that comes with a cool ending.”
Unexpected, unorthodox and undeniably unique, Harbaugh’s growing phrasebook established a quirky but solid foundation for the Chargers’ new era.
Eight months after Harbaugh’s arrival, players haven’t learned to predict where his final speech will turn. He quotes Nelson Mandela. He reads the lyrics to an entire Black Eyed Peas song. It revives centuries-old idioms.
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Other coaches might lose their players because of meandering currencies. Harbaugh’s magic lies in his ability to keep every player strapped in during the ride.
“When you’re with someone who has that energy, that stature, it’s hard to get lost,” linebacker Daiyan Henley said. “And the best thing about him is that everything is proven. That’s what he does.”
A look at Harbaugh’s Chargers dictionary:
“The worm has transformed”
In the euphoric celebration of the Chargers’ season-opening victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Harbaugh used a phrase attributed to English writer John Heywood and referenced by Williams Shakespeare. At first, receiver Simi Fehoko glanced around the locker room to reassure himself of what that meant. The receiver was greeted by a room full of coaches and teammates who also had no idea.
“I thought it was hilarious,” Fehoko said.
The expression refers to how a situation can change. Even a gentle worm can suddenly turn around and resist.
Chargerswho had been embarrassed by their AFC West rivals the year before, became the suddenly emboldened worm, declaring early on that they were overturning the franchise’s reputation for mediocrity.
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“We felt the dynamic was changing and we know who we have in this room,” Fehoko said. “And as long as 10 (quarterback Justin Herbert) is back, we know that at any point in the game, we’re always going to be in the game.”
The team that had long struggled to finish games scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to hold off the Raiders, sealed by an eight-play, 92-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass from Herbert to the rookie Ladd McConkey.
Harbaugh, who had his first victory as head coach of the Chargers, thanked the players in the locker room on behalf of all of the franchise’s new additions. Then a booming voice interrupted the coach mid-sentence.
“The worm has turned around!” Joey Bosa shouted.
The locker room erupted with joy.
“Steel in the spine”
The type of game in which fans cover their faces in despair had Harbaugh reaching into his bag of expressions.
“Experience in these kinds of games,” the coach said in his press conference after the Chargers failed to score a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals and gave up the game-winning field goal. time expired, “put steel in the spine.”
If Harbaugh’s last sentence sounds painful, that’s because it’s supposed to be.
“That’s what builds calluses,” Harbaugh said. “There’s a taste in your mouth, you have to suck it out.”
All three of the Chargers’ losses were decided in the fourth quarter. After going 0-7 in games decided by three points or less last season, the Chargers are still trying to get ready to make a jump to victory in close games.
“You never want to sulk, like head down,” offensive lineman Trey Pipkins III said. “So stay awake, stay positive and use that to just toughen up, strengthen yourself.”
‘Don’t worry’
Probably Harbaugh’s sweetest phrase, the coach’s final words in every pregame speech stick the most with Pipkins.
“Play as hard as you can, as fast as you can, as long as you can,” Harbaugh tells the players, “and don’t worry.”
Pipkins is in his first season at right guard after moving from inside tackle to accommodate first-round pick Joe Alt. The revamped offensive line was without Alt and left tackle Rashawn Slater for one game.
Learn more: Who is available? Arizona loss shows Chargers’ Justin Herbert needs another receiver
Although the Chargers attempted to establish a running game under first-year offensive coordinator Greg Roman, the results were inconsistent at best. The pressure is mounting as the Chargers approach the halfway point of the season.
But based on his favorite Harbaugh phrase, Pipkins remained calm despite the twists and turns.
“You can get caught in this world where you worry about everything that could happen, and then you forget to take the right steps to start the piece,” Pipkins said. “You do the basic things correctly, you win 80% of the time. …It’s just a good reminder that anything you can’t control doesn’t really matter.
“Focus on you, put yourself in the right place, then trust your instincts. »
“Who has it better than us?” »
The definitive “Harbaughism” shared by Jim and his older brother John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens, the Chargers break huddles after games with their coach under center shouting, “Who’s got it better than us?”
“Person!” » the team responds by lengthening the first syllable.
The phrase the Harbaugh brothers attribute to their father Jack sometimes appears on the giant screen in the Chargers’ practice facility. More than just a family motto or team chant, the phrase has become an icon for many players who work in the Chargers’ $250 million practice facility, bask in the rays of sun during a fall workout and cool off with the gentle South Bay breeze. .
“I step back and think about my life over the last 10 years, I’m living a dream, you know? said Heinicke, the backup quarterback who joined the Chargers in a trade in August. “When I was a kid, I always wanted to be an NFL quarterback. The fact that I’ve been able to do this every day for 10 years… I don’t think anyone does it better than me.
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Running back Hassan Haskins had heard that phrase for years before the Chargers claimed him off waivers after training camp this summer. After playing for Harbaugh at Michigan, reuniting with his college coach in Los Angeles and being able to join their chorus of “no ones” in the huddle was like returning to a familiar football family.
“Really, it’s just a mindset,” said Haskins, who was a third-team Associated Press All-American at Michigan in 2021. “Nobody can stop us. Nobody can take us down.
Harbaugh’s attitude of enthusiasm and gratitude helped the Wolverines win the national championship. He made Stanford a national power. He took the San Francisco 49ers to the NFC championship game three straight seasons.
At each stop, he carried his book of eccentric slogans with a plot always focused on winning.
This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
