EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The 2026 season is going to be really high-pressure for Jim Harbaugh, where he'll have to step onto the field and win the playoffs no matter what. Everyone is wondering what will happen if he can't pull off that playoff win. There's a lot of talk about how much his position could be at risk in the 2026 season.
Right now, Harbaugh doesn't really have any 'safety net.' A big reason for this is that the team has around $86 million in projected cap space, and they've also completely revamped their coaching staff, so expectations from him for 2026 are sky high.
Darwin Walker - The Sporting Tribune
Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh looks on during Chargers training camp at The Bolt on Monday, August 3, 2026 in El Segundo, CA.
On Monday's episode of Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio thought a lot about this and mentioned Harbaugh's name because his performance has been a bit lukewarm so far.
Florio said that he recently pointed out on the 'Pardon My Take' show a spot where a coach is on the 'hot seat' for the Los Angeles Chargers.
"I look at the Chargers as a spot where I was on Pardon My Take recently, and they said give us a guy who's on the hot seat that we wouldn't expect, and I bought some time to think about it a little bit more, and I went with Jim Harbaugh because it's been underwhelming so far," Florio said.
On the other hand, Chris Simms says he gives Harbaugh some relief for last year's failures because there were a lot of injuries on the offensive line.
"Last year, I will say I kind of give them a little bit of a free pass because of all the injuries they had on the offensive line... So, yeah, it was one and done, and it's definitely underwhelming as far as what we expect from a Harbaugh team," Simms said.
Simms believes that due to the injuries, the team wasn’t able to give their full effort.
Brandon Sloter / Sporting Tribune
Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Los Angeles Chargers reacts in the fourth quarter during a game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on October 21, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona.
But now the situation is changing - Mike McDaniel, who was fired by the Dolphins, has now become the new offensive coordinator for the Chargers. This will feel like a big relief for quarterback Justin Herbert, because the way Greg Roman coached him had kept him stuck, and now he can fully break out of that.
People are now expecting a lot more from Herbert because often in big games, his offense used to look really 'stale.'
"People expect more and want more from Justin Herbert,” Simms said. “They don't put every—not everybody puts him in the elite category. The offense has had moments of being very stale in big game football... So, yeah, Mike McDaniel certainly has some pressure on him."
Everyone will be watching to see whether McDaniel can actually make this offense better and faster than before.
Actually, this whole matter isn’t just limited to winning the AFC West division or moving a little further in the playoffs - the truth is that for Jim Harbaugh, the 2026 season in Los Angeles will be 'Super Bowl or bust,' meaning he’ll either become a champion or he’ll be considered a complete failure.