Introduction

Football is a brutal sport for the fans of teams who, for one reason or another, have never reached the very pinnacle of the game: winning a Super Bowl. There are very few situations where I would walk away from another failed season, after so many before, and feel an overwhelming excitement for the future. Yet, despite the disappointment of another embarrassing playoff loss, this is the most excited I have been as a Chargers fan.

Mike McDaniel is the kind of appointment that only comes along because of the mistakes of other decision-makers, and I feel like we are going to be eternally grateful for those errors. To acquire an offensive mind like Mike’s is a kind of luck that has traditionally been afforded to teams that go on to build dynasties, and with McDaniel working under Harbaugh, that elusive zenith should be the aiming point. Winning a championship is rightly the primary goal, but Harbaugh and McDaniel should also be looking to build a lasting legacy rooted in their shared vision for a pure idea of football. The only reason to doubt the ascendancy of this pairing is that it will likely end due to McDaniel’s own ambitions, something no one can fault him for.

“That core foundational belief of football is inside out and prioritizing the line of scrimmage play and being able to win games when you have a lead with nine minutes to go in the game and you can keep the defense off the field. I think those types of things, that’s where the like-minded, Football 101, core values of football kind of overlap.”

Mike McDaniel from his introductory press conference

This appointment is also a testament to a pragmatic approach that says more about the Chargers’ organization than any other move they could have made this off-season. On paper, McDaniel is a mismatch of scheme, background and personality, yet he was the absolute best candidate on the market and the Chargers treated him as such. To be brave enough to see that as a welcome challenge rather than a hindrance should be commended, even if it doesn’t ultimately end in glory.

The reasons for my effusive praise for McDaniel are based almost entirely on his abilities as both an innovative play designer and his masterful control of sequencing, qualities you would expect to see in every truly elite offensive coordinator. McDaniel is the most exciting offensive mind the Chargers have had in the building since Sid Gillman and Don Coryell, two names Mike himself brought up in his introductory press conference on Tuesday:

“To be a part of an organization that has a legacy, talking about Sid [Gillman] and Air Coryell, that’s super attractive too. Got a quarterback who I’ve always admired.”

Mike McDaniel from his introductory press conference

I decided to learn as much as I could about McDaniel’s scheme, a journey that will undoubtedly extend across the entire 2026 season and beyond, in order to articulate what makes him such a game-changing appointment. So, with the context set and our optimism justified, let’s dive into what Mike McDaniel actually believes in on offense, and how his scheme could reshape the Chargers’ future.

The Shanahan System

Mike McDaniel has been coaching in the league since 2005, when he took an intern position under Mike Shanahan during his tenure as the head coach of McDaniel’s hometown team; the Denver Broncos. In the 19 years since that day, McDaniel has mastered every facet of the infamous Shanahan scheme which is now the predominant offensive system of the NFL. Therefore before we look at understanding McDaniel’s scheme, it helps to explain the foundations of his footballing philosophy.

A lot of analysts talk about the Shanahan system but I’ve found very few actually lay out what has made it so successful that over half of NFL teams are planning to run it in 2026. The Shanahan system is not a collection of plays so much as a worldview about how to control defenders, simplify quarterbacking and create explosives without having to rely on your quarterback to navigate through the chaos of pure drop-back passing. At its core the Shanahan scheme is built on a small number of ideas applied relentlessly towards always having answers for the defensive presentation in front of them.

Founding Principles of the Shanahan System

1) Make everything look the same at the snap.

Runs, boots, screens, and deep shots will often come from identical formations and motions so defenders cannot key tendencies from alignment alone.

2) Stretch the defense horizontally

Wide zone runs and flow-based play action will force linebackers to run sideways before asking them to defend vertically.

3) Play Action as a primary means of attack

Shanahan schemes master in using play action as part of the main methodology. This isn’t a change-up pitch used to keep the defense on their heels. The inverse is more accurate, they use the play action to open up run lanes.

4) Move the launch point.

Boots, half-rolls, and keepers will shift where the quarterback throws from, changing pass-rush angles and coverage leverage.

5) Create defined reads for the quarterback.

Concepts will often be half-field or leverage-based rather than full progression scans, keeping decision trees short to beat coverage rolls.

6) Attack space, not coverage.

Receivers will be coached to run to landmarks that are built into the timing of the concept rather than being asked to read a coverage and adjust to beat it.

7) Condense formations to create traffic.

Tight splits will force defenders into clusters where picks, switches, and busted match rules become more likely.

8) Marry the run game and pass game.

Blocking schemes, footwork, and backfield action will mirror each other so the offense tells the same story no matter what it calls.

9) Build families of plays instead of one-offs.

A handful of core concepts such as boot flood or deep over will appear with dozens of variations in motion, personnel, and formation.

10) Prioritize yards after catch.

Routes and throws will be designed so receivers catch the ball already moving, turning five-yard completions into explosives.

Those principles form the foundations for everything that Mike McDaniel learned in his seven years under Mike and Kyle Shanahan. These principles may have formed the basis of McDaniel’s version but whilst he will not abandon them, he is most certainly not limited by them either. He will push them further, stack them more aggressively, and shift where the final burden of decision making lives.

The structure will remain recognizably Shanahan but one major difference is that McDaniel has pushed the complexity beyond where Mike and Kyle have dared to take it, to a place where it has been waiting for the right players to fully realize its potential. He thought he could build that in Miami but now, his vision shifts to Los Angeles where Jim Harbaugh will look to harness his creativity to elevate the roster he has built in his image.

The Mike McDaniel Interpretation of the Shanahan Offense

Weaponizing the Shanahan Structure

At its foundation, McDaniel uses the same structural families as the other Shanahan descendants but how he gets to them is where he separates himself. If you strip back every complex shift and post-snap motion you’ll see that he runs:

• Wide zone / outside zone
• Split-flow and sift action
• Play-action from under center
• Boot, keeper, and leak concepts
• Condensed formations

The difference is not what families he uses, but how aggressively he manipulates defensive rules within them by using variable formations and motions in a never-ending Rolodex of permutations that make game planning against him, a very hard task. When I watch McDaniel’s offense on game film my first thoughts are seeped in sympathy for the defensive assistant they’re facing that week. They won’t even have a name for half of the formations he’ll get attempting to chart. Their assistant coaches will be getting texts like “How many yards off the line is the threshold between a deep wing and a back?” and “Where’s our run strength call going to be if we have a tight end in a Pistol Sidecar and a running back split wide outside the tackle?”. Mike’s scheme takes scout teams on a crash course to understand the full extents of their charting software.

This is the kind of gimmicky game play that gets coaches fired more often than normal because they run the same concepts from those funky formations which is an obvious tell if the opposition have enough tape. However with McDaniel he reverse engineers the thinking, he will run the same concepts from a whole host of formations but every single one has a different pressure point. This not only becomes a nuisance for defenders to prepare for but it can also mean that if you’re finding success with one concept, you can get back to it repeatedly without giving anything away pre-snap. The four examples given below are from the first half of a single game where the Dolphins ran Crack-Toss to absolutely eviscerate the Broncos with a record breaking 70 points.

McDaniel’s Philosophical Core: Conflict Over Deception

A common misunderstanding is that McDaniel’s offense is about trickery and ‘eye candy’. In reality, it is about conflict layering to turn the defense’s own flexibility against itself. Deception is transient and fleeting whereas conflict persists; it’s tangible and reliable as long as you know where to direct it. McDaniel’s designs do not rely on defenders being fooled once, they rely on defenders being wrong no matter what they choose. At a schematic level, the offense is built around three simultaneous conflicts:

1. Run–Pass Conflict (classic Shanahan)
2. Leverage Conflict (route spacing + motion)
3. Responsibility Conflict (pattern-match rules vs. moving targets)

Every play is an attempt to stack at least two of these conflicts on the same defender. The best weapon that McDaniel leverages in pursuit of creating conflict is utilizing every single body on the field towards one specific purpose.

“The one thing I can state with certainty is that there will be a blend of run and pass and we will try to maximize the conflict we put defenses in in their responsibilities.” 

Mike McDaniel from his introductory press conference

Every player has an assignment that is simple in its instruction but detailed in its execution. Where most coaches would leave the backside receiver to run off the corner opposite him, McDaniel tasks him with beating the Strong safety to the hash mark. He understands that this blocking path will either draw the corner in to follow him, opening up the backside cut lane to the sideline, or it will remind the corner to play BCR contain. Either way he will be wrong, as long as the receiver commits to blocking the safety and pinning him to the hash mark with sound technique.

Condensed Formations as a Key Component

Klint Kubiak’s offensive renaissance of the Seahawks, which has played a major part in their Super Bowl run, was built from taking the Shanahan schematic bones and leaning more heavily into what he can do from condensed splits. McDaniel utilizes this methodology to a similar degree. Condensed splits do three things to the defense:

1. Force DBs into traffic
2. Compress coverage rules
3. Shorten the defense’s reaction window

In today’s match-coverage-heavy league, defenders rely on space and clean reads to pass routes off cleanly. Condensed formations remove that space and flood the defenders’ lines of vision. McDaniel then adds layers of motions which are borderline impossible to get tells from. He uses a blend of varying speed, different timing and multidirectional motions to turn coverage from a static alignment problem into a live communication problem.

Motion is more than diagnosing the coverage

Pre-snap motion has historically been used for diagnosing coverage. It used to be a clean way to understand whether you were facing man or zone however in recent years smarter defenses have used Man Indicator Actions to negate the effectiveness of motion to unmask the coverage disguise. So when analysts refer to motion usage rates to determine how modern an offense is, they are behind the curve. McDaniel uses motion at the highest rate in the league (67.5%) because to him, motion is not simply a tool to read the defense, he uses it in three distinct categories which combine to give his offense advantages:

1. Pre-Snap Diagnosis

McDaniel goes further than simply shifting from a balanced formation to an unbalanced one. He looks for who bumps vs. who runs, depth changes (nickel/safety rotation) and weak side safety hesitation. These tells dissect Man Indicator Actions to dictate post-snap answers for the quarterback if he’s smart enough to understand how the picture has changed

2. Post-Snap Leverage Manipulation

Motion doesn’t just identify coverage; it changes it. For example: Jet motion forces a nickel to widen. That widens the curl/flat defender. That softens the B-gap fit. Now the run and pass are both advantaged.

3. Pattern-Match Rule Breaking

Modern defenses rely on “if-then” rules: If #2 goes vertical, the apex defender should carry him up the seam. If #1 goes under, the corner should zone off. Motion that happens simultaneously to the snap, breaks the timing of those rules. Defenders are forced to decide on their post-snap assignment before they have full information.

What separates McDaniel from many run-heavy play-action designers is how aggressively he manufactures that same reaction on pure drop-back snaps through his use of motion. Insert motion by tight ends and backs will mimic split-zone paths even when the line sets to pass protect. Jet motion will sprint across the formation at the snap to tug eyes and widen flat defenders before the quarterback ever finishes his drop. Even in empty looks, a receiver will Short-motion into the backfield to create the illusion of a run surface that never actually exists. The picture tells one story while the protection tells another, and that tension is what keeps the middle of the field fragile.

Installation Philosophy: Complexity Through Modularity

Defensive film study relies on formation tells, down-and-distance tendencies, and personnel groupings. McDaniel intentionally works to sever those correlations, taking pressure off his players by placing the responsibility for creating conflict squarely on his own shoulders. He understands that his mind is the engine of the offense and that he is capable of producing wins through his mental processing, both in preparation and in-game. This approach allows him to create a significant information gap between the scope of what he asks his players to execute and what opposing defenses are forced to diagnose and adjust to. His cerebral edge functions as a one-way bridge, one that only breakdowns in execution can collapse.

• Same formation → different concepts
• Same concept → different formation
• Same motion → different outcomes

If this sounds familiar, that’s because it should be. This modular philosophy is exactly how Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter teach structure their defense. This detached approach inhibits predictive scouting techniques which means defenses are reduced to merely reacting. This sounds like it would be complex with a lot of game-day pressure placed on the players’ minds. This is the most misunderstood part; the offense is not installed as 1000 plays. It is installed as a small number of concepts rules. The scheme carries several core principles which break up the scheme into simpler modules. McDaniel and his staff teach motion rules, landmark spacing and timing relationships instead of whole plays like in a Sean Payton offense.

People often misidentify the concept of modularity as taking something you want to build and assembling it using smaller components. The real beauty of it is that those smaller parts can be used with any of the other parts to create a different design without having to start from scratch each time. 

From my article on Jesse Minter’s Defensive Modularity

This allows for mid-season wrinkles and weekly opponent-specific tags with minimal mental overload. McDaniel’s use of motion is choreographed with an exact pacing and purpose, his players need to know their motions just as well as their routes, which is why penalties stay low despite the increased complexity. Their landmarks are precise and their splits are more consistent. Everything looks chaotic but is highly regulated. McDaniel’s genius has always been separating how fast the offense plays with how fast players have to think.

The offense plays fast because thinking has already been done during the week. Scout teams are giving precise instructions of how the opposition will play versus certain looks, McDaniels trusts in his scouting to determine how teams are going to play. He’s betting on his preparation to outgun the opposition’s adjustments. Receivers do not read full-field concepts; they read leverage, space and key defenders to adjust their single routes. They pair these regimented pre-snap reads with a set of clear and precise team-specific instructions which have been deducted through scouting to keep it simple for the players as Andrew Hawkins explains in the video above.

The Anatomy of a Shanahan/McDaniel Playcall

Part of understanding how Mike McDaniel makes things simpler for his offense is by examining the West Coast verbiage that he uses. Unlike with Minter’s version of modularity, Shanahan disciples stick to traditional call play structure. Justin Herbert will be asked to dictate long and complex calls but the intent is not to test their players memories, instead it’s to make things easy for them. Every pass play comes down to the formula of Formation + Routes + Motion + Protection. Players will know in advance which sections they need to listen to and they are asked to assemble the whole play call in their mind in order to understand how the formation changes their spacing, how the motion affects their leverage and how their alignment dictates how they run their route.

South Right Clamp Fake 67 Slant Naked Right Zebra Slide:

It might appear at first to be overwhelming, but when you break it down by component it’s not too difficult to grasp:

• South Right is the formation and strength. It indicates a 2×2 formation with the tight end aligned to the right and the two receivers to the left stacked together tight to the formation. 
• Clamp is the formation variation. This brings the Z receiver in tighter to the right side of the formation and has him line up on the line of scrimmage while the tight end can take a step off it. 
• Fake 67 Slant tells the offense to fake their 67 Slant run play. 67 is a one-back outside zone scheme to the left. If it ends in an odd number, it’s a call to the left. 66 would be a call to the right. Slant tells the team it’s a weak side run, meaning it’s being run away from the tight end. 
• Naked Right lets the quarterback know to keep the ball after the fake and roll out to his right, but that he is somewhat unprotected as he rolls out. The Naked call means the team doesn’t have a man designated to block the back side defensive end, so there’s a chance that defender could come at him completely unblocked. The hope is that the run fake will be enough to distract the defender and allow the quarterback to roll out freely. 
• Zebra Slide tells the zebra receiver, which is the west coast term for the slot receiver in 11 personnel, to sift back across the formation behind the offensive line and leak out into the flat as the primary option for the quarterback. 

From Mark Bullock

This structure takes the cerebral pressure off of the receiver’s shoulders and places it onto Justin Herbert’s capable mind. I am a fan of this. To me your fastest players should be playing with simple reads on both sides of the ball. Derwin James is proof of this, under Staley he was asked to read multiple keys before and after the snap and it slowed him down. Since then he’s played at a pace that maximizes his talents as he is not having to process. The same goes on offense; Herbert has the longest time of any offensive player to process what he is seeing whilst his receivers have sub-seconds to make decisions or they are going to be out of rhythm. The ball is always faster the players.

Under McDaniel there should be less responsibility placed on their receivers and that should help Ladd McConkey, Quinten Johnston and the sophomore pair of Harris and Lambert-Smith be free to be fast instead of being tasked with reading the ever-growing disguises that pattern match defenses are presenting them with.

The Run Game

Mike McDaniel has changed his scheme through each year of his four year tenure as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach. The Shanahan zone concepts which he grew up with formed the core of the Dolphins’ rushing attack across his time on South Beach making up between 54% and 60% of their runs each year. His expert understanding of what it takes to run Zone at an elite level produced its biggest payoff in 2023, when zone runs reached peak efficiency and touchdown output. Still, McDaniel gradually adjusted the mix rather than stubbornly relying exclusively on his trademark approach.

Despite the high usage rate, McDaniel’s zone designs are not about efficiency alone; it is about forcing lateral pursuit to open up everything else off of it. The aiming points, the footwork and the teaching are all classic Shanahan however the intent is different. He wants linebackers to overrun cutback lanes, trigger aggressively and fit on the move. This creates vulnerability to split-flow counters, play-action glance routes and pop passes behind flowing defenders.

The one move that solidified McDaniel’s departure from Kyle Shanahan’s shadow was when he started to use more Gap mechanisms, even if the blocking techniques, footwork and read progression are still Zone based. Mike’s Gap schemes, while never overtaking Zone in volume, started to uptick in 2024 after the effectiveness his Zone concepts started to show signs of decline. Mike put a lot more time and effort into his Gap concepts and as a result they became dramatically more effective late in his tenure despite not being a primary feature of the offense. This uptick started towards the end of 2024 but by 2025 Gap run concepts surpassed Zone in yards per carry and EPA, illustrating how Miami evolved from a zone-centric ground game into a more flexible offense that could punish defenses with multiple run styles.

McDaniel will not treat zone and gap as opposing philosophies. He will blend them so that wide zone supplies the stretch while gap principles quietly reshape where the run actually hits. Split flow, like the design above, is only the most visible example. Insert paths by tight ends or fullbacks will replace linebackers inside while the line still steps laterally, creating downhill creases that feel like Power even though the front was widened by zone footwork. Fold blocks from interior linemen will show up the same way, displacing defenders late and turning what looked like a race to the edge into a vertical strike. The cutback lane will function as another crossover point. Wide zone will be pressed hard toward the perimeter, often aided by jet motion or crack action, forcing second-level defenders to overrun their fits while backside combinations stay thick and patient. When the runner plants and returns, the crease will feel like Counter’s designed backside path, except the defense will have widened itself instead of being kicked out by a puller. McDaniel will then layer true Counter ideas on top of those Zone behaviors to erase the line between the two.

“He [Jim Harbaugh] likes to run the ball and I am, by trade, I spent a good portion of my career being in charge of the run game and being the run game coordinator. I think you’re always playing to your skillsets and each team that you’re on has a different array of them.”

Mike McDaniel from his introductory press conference

The result will be a run game that stretches the edge, dents the interior, and turns cutbacks into planned weapons rather than accidents, folding counter concepts into the very texture of the zone scheme. This creativity to broaden the horizons of the Zone game into more Power based principles not only showcases one of the many reasons why Harbaugh was happy to change tact in his hiring process but it also demonstrates how McDaniel is not merely a Shanahan disciple. Mike is his own man with a pure idea of football that transcends the boundaries of his education.

The Pass Game

Mike McDaniel’s pass game begins with a simple obsession that disguises itself as variety. Everything must feel as though it grows out of the run, even when the ball never comes close to the back. Play action will remain the emotional center of the offense, but it will not live in isolation from the drop-back game or the screen menu. The same condensed formations, backfield alignments, and early motion cues that precede wide zone and gap runs will frame straight five-step concepts and quick throws, so defenders cannot sort intentions from structure alone.

McDaniel’s pass concepts are not complex in isolation. What makes them hard to defend is how they are packaged. He teaches families, not play calls. Each of these families are ways of doing the same thing but with different ways of running them. Each family appears from multiple formations with different motions out of different personnel. For the QB, the read stays constant. For the defense, the picture changes. Instead of deep five and seven-step drops, McDaniel uses play-action depth, half-rolls and firm pockets with late movement. These concepts keep protection simpler, timing consistent and the quarterback’s eyes focused.

Traditional play-action will still supply the vertical backbone. Wide-zone footwork will sell flow, split-flow inserts will hold backside defenders, and half-rolls will pull the launch point just far enough to bend coverage rules without abandoning protection integrity. The Bang/Drift family will cross behind flowing second-level defenders, Nod/Seam routes will climb into the space vacated by safeties peeking into the backfield and Rail/Wheel will trail the motion that has already dragged a nickel out of position. The offense will not chase explosives by calling them in a vacuum, the scheme itself will cultivate them by conditioning defenders to react the wrong way first.

Screen Game

Screens will complete the ecosystem rather than sit apart from it. Perimeter bubbles and tunnel screens will resemble the quick game. Slow tight-end screens will be masked in the same split-flow insert action that accompanies bootlegs. Middle screens will arrive only after linebackers have been conditioned all afternoon to step downhill on run keys. Each category will reinforce the others. The drop-back game will borrow the posture of the run. The play-action game will borrow the spacing of the pass. Screens will punish any defender who decides the safest answer is to stop processing and sprint full speed to the ball. Taken together, McDaniel’s pass scheme will not feel like three separate menus rotating by situation. It will feel like one continuous argument that the run might be coming, until the moment it clearly is not.

Layering Playcalls

Offensive play calling is all about sequencing — setting up one action with the next action; gathering information on the defense so that you can hit them with a payoff play, or punish an obvious tendency. There should be a rhythm to things.

Oliver Connolly, The Read Optional

The other side of McDaniel’s genius is found in his understanding of how defenses will adjust to match his most success play calls. The moment a coach thinks they have a beat on you, he’ll have the next counter installed and ready to call. Let’s go through an example. One of McDaniel’s favorite play calls in Miami was a half-field play call Bang/Stutter-Rail which they ran from the Trips side of the formation. It’s a brilliant Cover 3 beater that forces the deep third defender to be wrong no matter what he does. As you can see from the examples below, this can be reached from different alignments to the same affect with the timing being the differentiating factor.

On the next drive after running Bang/Stutter-Rail twice, McDaniel sets up a max protection shot call that plays on the defense over correcting to it. He sets up the play perfectly with the backfield split action drawing in the linebackers but the real genius is on the backend where he uses a Sail route disguised as a Bang. The defense has to overreact to handle the potent combination of complexity and speed. The defense had adjusted to Quarters to negate the effect of the Bang route (Bang is a speed cut version of Dig) which means the field side safety could drive on the inside breaking route, leaving the corner to stay with the deep-breaking Rail (Slot fade). This all means that the safety who bit down on the false inside break, is left all at sea when Jaylen Waddle (No. 17) reversed his cut to break wide open towards the sideline. This was a masterful set-up and counter.

Summary

Mike McDaniel’s offense is not built on gimmicks, it is built on forcing defenders into decisions they cannot win. Drawing from the Shanahan system, he keeps the same structural backbone but pushes those ideas further by stacking conflicts, multiplying formations and breaking the predictive links defenses rely on.

His scheme is modular rather than encyclopedic. Players learn families, rules, landmarks, and timing instead of entire play calls built on concepts. This allows the quarterback to carry the cognitive load while everyone else plays fast. Motion manipulates leverage, formations disguise intent, sequencing punishes adjustment and every call is designed to make the next one harder to defend.

In the run game, McDaniel blends zone and gap so defenses are stretched before being dented inside. In the pass game, routes and screens are married to run action so completely that explosives emerge through repetition rather than surprise. His answer to modern two-high, pattern-match defenses is not coverage-hunting but communication-breaking—turning hesitation into yards.

For the Chargers, that philosophy pairs cleanly with Jim Harbaugh’s physical foundation while adding an engine for constant evolution: an offense that looks familiar on the surface, changes its stress points weekly, and functions less like a playbook than a system for staying ahead of how defenses want to play.

RW

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Ryan Watkins

The Film Room Coach

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Erick V(@erick-v)

#8136

Member

2 months ago

Ryan,

This is a fantastic piece. You can tell you have coaching chops because you “coach” these pieces more than just explain them. It honestly feels like I am sitting in the coaches office white board again breaking down schemes and plays.

I am a huge proponent of the way McDaniel sets up the offense, because from a defensive perspective, it is very tough to game plan for an opponent who is diverse from the same look. I always found the teams that ran wishbone or single wing in college to be a pain in the ass to prepare for and read from the field. This style of scheme should be a very fun and creative watch and will be relatively easy to install with the verbiage and understanding of the concepts as a whole.

Not sure you saw it, but I did a play call breakdown piece here or at BFTB where I broke down the anatomy of a play call the way I learned it in college. The way he uses terms and identifiers in the call might sound strange but give each part of the offense their specific assignment making it very easy to understand your exact role on a play.

For me, this is the best Chargers scheme breakdown piece I have read. Wonderful job.

1

Blue Beers(@blue-beers)

#8113

Member

2 months ago

This is an amazing article. Honestly might be the best “Chargers focused” football article I’ve ever read. A couple fun takeaways for me:

1) Omarion Hampton could absolutely have a McCaffrey-like season if he stays healthy.

2) I can not wait to see Herbert running the boot again. I will never understand why this wasn’t added to Roman’s playbook (despite such beautiful success with it when Steichen was there and even Lombardi used it). Herbert is the absolute perfect QB to be running boot concepts.

3) I’m excited to see the screen game. One of the most frustrating things of the last two seasons was Roman’s refusal to give Herbert simple screen outlets when he was under so much duress. Hell, the Pats basically beat the Chargers in the playoffs with just a couple of screens.

1

Ryan Watkins(@ryanwatkins)

Author

#8140

Reply to  Blue Beers

2 months ago

That’s some high praise, thank you dude!

1) Whilst I agree on Hampton’s potential he is not an adept zone runner like CMC, at least not yet. I am writing something about how I think McDaniel will adjust his scheme to suit though so when that’s ready, I’ll look forward to your comments on that.

2) Good point! Herbert will have to lean into his boot action prowess. We have to give Greg Roman credit for that, he may not have utilised it this season but he took Herbert from being inconsistent to the leagues best at it in 2024.

3) His tunnel screen diagrams are absolutely diabolical. Now it’s just about finding the right person to run them as I don’t trust either QJ or Ladd to do so. It’s a key pick up which I hope they address before the draft.

1

Buck Melanoma(@buck-melanoma)

#8099

Member

2 months ago

Thanks for a great article Ryan. Really looking forward to watching Herbie run this offense. Hopefully both tackles return healthy and we retool the IOL.

1

KevDiego(@kevdiego)

#8084

Member

2 months ago

Ryan: This is a great read. Thank you. So much smarter after reading this. A few comments/questions:

• There has been clamoring for Keenan to be re-signed. The counter-argument is that he takes opportunities away from Ladd Thoughts? Keenan has always been a technician. Would be interesting to see what he could do in an offense that relies on technical execution. The downside is that Allen does not offer a lot of YAC and he dropped far too many balls in 2025.
• For sustained success, the Chargers need to have a succession plan in place. Is there anybody on the Chargers staff that you could see as the offensive Chris O’Leary? Kirk Campbell? Are there any candidates from the Dolphins staff the Chargers could add? FYI – Frank Smith just signed to be the “Assistant HC” for the Vikings.
• Thoughts on how the current RB room fits with the running concepts? I think Vidal has the speed and cutback ability to excel in this offense. He’s also small, which will help him get “lost” when he hits the lane
• You didn’t hit too much on OL play, but in reading what McDaniels expects from his OL, it struck me that James is a much better fit than Bozeman. I want the team to look externally for a starter, but I think James would be the better backup vs. Bradly.

I share your optimism. After absorbing it, I think both coordinator hires were home runs. Let’s see how the rest of the offseason progresses. Hortiz needs to solve the IOL and Edge issues, but man, this is the window opening up…

1

Ryan Watkins(@ryanwatkins)

Author

#8137

Reply to  KevDiego

2 months ago

Just getting around to replies so my apologies for the delay:
I wouldn’t resign Keenan at any cost. I was a fan of the signing in Roman’s static spacing scheme but without the threat of lateral speed, YAC ability, nor to threaten deep, I just don’t see a role for him in this offense.
Derrell Bevel could pickup the offense if needed but he’s too old for consideration as the future. Max McCaffrey (eldest brother of CMC/Luke/Dylan) is a rising star whose already called plays in college, he should be a target as a PGC. On our staff I don’t really see anyone worth promoting immediately but Jeff Carpenter could be a candidate in the future. Kirk Campbell is the best of these as you said. Btw on the defensive side I feel like Mike Hiestand is next up after Clinkscale, I like the pipeline they’ve set up already.
I’m writing something on the run game and how it will look so watch this space!
That will involve the OL to an extent but that’s a great point about James being a scheme fit although I feel like Harbaugh will ship him off as he wasn’t competitive enough to beat out a terrible starter in Bozeman.

Thanks for positive feedback man! This off-season is going to be so much fun, let’s hope we keep this pace up until summer.

0

TDU_Alister(@alisterlloyd)

#8081

2 months ago

Maybe the best Xs & Os football article I’ve ever read, Ryan. Definitely in the conversation. Incredible work.

4

Tau837(@tau837)

#8080

2 months ago

I was waiting for this article, and it was worth the wait. Thanks, Ryan, great stuff.

4

66_Jimbo(@66_jimbo)

#8079

Member

2 months ago

Once again Ryan, thank you so much for taking the time to write such eloquent and comprehensive breakdowns. I don’t pretend to understand it all, but certainly look forward to seeing the on field product.

3