The Los Angeles Chargers are set to look entirely different next season with new head coach Jim Harbaugh and new general manager Joe Hortiz at the helm. This should be an exciting time for Chargers fans. But Harbaugh and Hortiz may just be setting fans up to be disappointed with their insanely high expectations.
The goal for anyone in the NFL regardless of position is a Super Bowl Championship. But both Harbaugh and Hortiz have even greater goals in mind.
Harbaugh spoke about his expectations of his new regime in Los Angeles in his first press conference last week, saying that he has his eyes on “multiple championships” with the team.
“It needs to be multiple, multiple championships,” Harbaugh said in his first press conference as Chargers head coach last week. “We’re going to be humble. Humble and hungry. But that’s our goal. Our goal is to treat people in a first-class manner and to win multiple championships.”
Hortiz echoed Harbaugh’s sentiments on Tuesday, proclaiming that he and Harbaugh will deliver multiple championships for the Chargers organization and owner Dean Spanos.
“We’re going to build a consistent winner here,” Hortiz said in his introductory press conference on Tuesday. “We’re going to bring you a trophy. Dean, we are going to get it done. I got four boys, I got two rings. We’re getting the other two at least and we’re going to keep trying to build.”
Confidence is obviously great to have as a general manager or a head coach in the NFL. But these comments from Harbaugh and Hortiz certainly beg the question. Are they setting both their team and the fans of the Chargers up for failure with these extremely ambitious goals?
Winning just one Super Bowl in the NFL is incredibly difficult and rare. We have seen all-time great quarterbacks go their entire careers without even reaching a Super Bowl. Just look at the career of Los Angeles Chargers legend Philip Rivers for proof of that.
Are we absolutely positive that Justin Herbert won’t have a career much more similar to Rivers than of someone with multiple Super Bowls like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning?
The jury very much appears to still be out on whether Herbert is truly capable of becoming a multi-time Super Bowl champion.
It’s not like the Los Angeles Chargers are in the best position to succeed right away under Harbaugh and Hortiz. Sure, they have a great quarterback Justin Herbert. But they also have one of the worst cap situations in football at the moment, currently sitting at -45.8 million going into the offseason.
The Chargers rank 30th in 2024 cap space (-$45.8m) 😳 pic.twitter.com/OjKzZZpOwh
— PFF LA Chargers (@PFF_Chargers) February 1, 2024
It’s not like the Chargers organization is one that is well-known for their postseason success over the years. They have never won a Super Bowl championship, losing their only appearance in the big game back in 1994.
Chargers fans should be encouraged by the optimism of Harbaugh and Hortiz, as it is more of a positive than it is a negative. However, they should focus on attaining their first Super Bowl first, or even just returning to the postseason after the team’s disastrous campaign this year.
[ESPN]
