2025 update: Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh continues his crush on quarterback Justin Herbert. This funny moment from training camp made Harbaugh look like a stalker:
Original story from September 2024.
Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh has seven children, including four sons (one of them gay). If he could, it seems that he would like to adopt another one, quarterback Justin Herbert.
Harbaugh, in his first season with the Chargers, clearly has an unabashed bro crush on Herbert. That’s easy to understand given that Herbert is a talented, handsome, 6-5 stud.
“Love ya. Love ya. Love ya,” Harbaugh said about Herbert last week in a game against Tennessee, where he was mic-ed up by NFL Films.
Other Harbaughisms about Herbert from the game:
“I’m calling you the beast now.”
“Justin’s a beast.”
“My guy, that’s my guy.”
This continues a season-long love affair Harbaugh has for Herbert, something the players notice.
“It is a little bit of a bromance,” tight end Hayden Hurst said. “I think Jim wants to really emulate Justin. He’s got all the physical traits that Jim said he doesn’t have, so it’s kind of funny. I think they complement each other well.”
As ESPN reported: “That admiration extends to other areas, like in a team meeting earlier this season when Herbert began doing calf raises and Harbaugh followed suit. ‘Jim’s looking him up and down and started doing calf raises, too,’ Hurst said while hysterically laughing.”
Harbaugh’d praise began in the offseason and accelerated once the season began.
“There’s not one gene in his body I wouldn’t like immediately trade,” Harbaugh said of Herbert after a Week 1 win, adding that he is now wearing the same sneakers as his quarterback. This is what a sixth-grader does when he wants to grab the attention of the new cool kid in class.
“There’s not one gene in his body I wouldn’t like immediately trade.” – Jim Harbaugh on Justin Herbert.
Harbaugh said he wants to be best friends with Herbert and is now wearing the same tennis shoes Harbaugh wears. pic.twitter.com/zLDjLicp6x
— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) September 13, 2024
Harbaugh also said that, “If you don’t love Justin Herbert, there’s something wrong with you,” adding that
“I wanna be best friends with him.” Me too.
Before the Chargers’ Week 1 win against the Las Vegas Raiders, a video went viral of Harbaugh pounding on Herbert’s chest and shoulder pads (something he has done at other coaching jobs), with Herbert’s first reaction being to hug his coach.
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Herbert admits his coach caught him off guard. “I just wasn’t ready for it,” he said. “I thought it was a moment to like, “Hey, let’s go get this.’ Dap up. But he hit me a couple times, and I thought that was it. And then he kept going back for more. I’ll be much better the next time.”
CBS later again showed the coach pounding on his player, with Herbert not sure how to react.
I think it’s cool that Harbaugh has no problem showing love for his players and we need more of that in a sport like football. I hope the Harbaugh-Herbert pairing is a long and successful one.
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports