This weekend, new Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh wants to beat the city of Pittsburgh. But it doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate the town. During a Monday press conference, Harbaugh praised the city, its people, and its values.
“Playing against them as a player, there’s an aura there,” Harbaugh said Monday via the team’s YouTube channel. “Just everybody I’ve ever met from Pittsburgh. There’s nobody on this planet I have more respect for than Ben Herbert. I know the kind of football people who come out of the Burgh. It’s real, it’s genuine, it’s unique. Nothing but respect for it.”
If you’re thinking “Ben Herbert” was a portmanteau of sorts between Ben Roethlisberger and Justin Herbert, you’re not alone. I thought the same. But it’s an actual person, the Chargers’ executive director of player performance. On staff with Harbaugh at Michigan, Herbert is a West Allegheny graduate. He followed Harbaugh to Los Angeles.
Considered the best hire of this year’s coaching cycle, Harbaugh has the Chargers back on track. With a Ravens-like feel in personnel and people, including GM Joe Hortiz coming over from Baltimore, Los Angeles is building itself like Pittsburgh. Tough, physical, and running the snot out of the football. Through the first two weeks, the Steelers and Chargers rank top 10 in rushing attempts. Pittsburgh is first, Los Angeles sixth, the teams only separated by six carries.
Both teams are also 2-0, one of nine unbeaten teams left. Barring a tie, there will be no more than eight following Sunday afternoon’s game.
Asked about Harbaugh during his Tuesday press conference, Mike Tomlin said the former won’t be an unfamiliar face on the opposing sideline.
“A lot over the years,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel of how often he’s interacted with Harbaugh. “I mean, this isn’t his first rodeo in the National Football League. And so, I’ve seen some of him over the years, certainly.”
Jim Harbaugh served as the San Francisco 49ers’ head coach from 2011-2014, compiling a 44-19-1 record and making one Super Bowl appearance that came against his brother John and the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens won, 34-31. After winning a national championship at Michigan, an annual Pro Day stop for Tomlin, Harbaugh jumped back to the NFL this season.
While Harbaugh may have earned some brownie points with his kind comments about the city, Steelers fans will still be hoping to send him home with a loss this weekend.
