Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers coaching debut is one of many season-opening storylines – Orange County Register

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert returns to an NFL field for the first time since suffering a season-ending toe injury in Week 14 of last season. Outside linebacker Joey Bosa returns to an NFL field for the first time since suffering a season-ending foot injury in Week 11 of last season.

Defensive end Derwin James Jr. faces off against wide receiver Devante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders for the first time since the Chargers’ humiliating, franchise-changing 63-21 loss in Week 15 of last season. Right quarterback Joe Alt makes his NFL debut against Raiders tight end Maxx Crosby.

Oh yeah, and Jim Harbaugh will make his Chargers coaching debut and return to the NFL after nine seasons at the University of Michigan, where he’ll face his long-hated rival in the season opener on Sunday at a SoFi Stadium packed with compelling storylines.

Maybe it’s best to start with Harbaugh and work backwards.

“Match week, I’m really excited,” he said, days before the league returns. “Every day counts, but the games count, so there’s a good atmosphere around the facility and the building. Team meetings. Here we go. It’s a big rivalry. You can definitely feel it. … It’s the beginning. It’s a big game. It’s a big week.

On the many ways the NFL has changed since he last coached the San Francisco 49ers in 2014, he said: “I think I’ve said it a few times, but I didn’t think the NFL could get any bigger, any more exciting than it was a decade ago, but it did. I don’t know how many more, two, three, 10 (times). When I didn’t think it could get any bigger, it did.”

On his personal growth during his nine seasons at Michigan, which included a 15-0 record and a national championship last season, he said: “I don’t know. I don’t have that list in front of me. I think I’ve grown. I put the same amount of effort into it, which is everything. My heart and soul into it. I love this team. I’m super lucky to have a job where I can go to every day, have that common goal, be part of a team in building a baseball team. I want this to be the favorite baseball team we’ve ever been on.

“Every guy. Every man, woman in the organization, when you think about Little League, high school, college, pro, I want that to be their favorite baseball team that they played on.”

So you know Harbaugh is excited for Sunday.

He’s also excited to coach Herbert, whose 2023 season ended with a broken index finger in the Chargers’ loss to the Denver Broncos on Dec. 10 at SoFi Stadium. Herbert also missed three weeks of training camp with what the team described as a plantar fascia injury in his right foot.

“Right out of the gate, one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around,” Harbaugh said of Herbert, who is entering his fifth NFL season. “He’s been a rock since Day 1. In every way. The hardest worker. The tone-setter. The strategist. The doer. The producer. Leads from the front. Huge.”

Herbert is also excited about Sunday, when he will have new targets after the offseason departures of top wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and running back Austin Ekeler. Joshua Palmer, Quentin Johnston and rookie Ladd McConkey will be asked to replace Allen (traded to the Bears) and Williams (cut), while Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins will share the duties in place of Ekeler, who left for Washington as a free agent.

So Herbert was naturally a bit cautious before Sunday.

“That’s the hardest part about being on the bench, not getting reps with those guys,” he said of his nearly three-week absence because of a foot injury and the inability to connect with his teammates. “They’re all new, the whole offense is new, and you’re trying to get it together as quickly as you can.”