New offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel brings a different vibe to Chargers on and off field

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mike McDaniel has brought his Miami vibe to Southern California, both on and off the field.

The Los Angeles Chargers' new offensive coordinator showed up for a pre-practice news conference at the University of San Diego wearing sunglasses, as well as his customary rolled-up joggers and a pair of bright gold Nikes.

“I'm really excited to be here. I’m not excited that I’m completely unprepared for an indoor press conference as I’m wearing sunglasses inside,” McDaniel said Tuesday morning, explaining that his transition lenses "are failing right now, so I meant to have not sunglasses on.

“I am prepared for practice, though, which I think is better news. And Ron Burgundy wasn't lying. This place is sweet."

McDaniel invoked the fictional newscaster from “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” before the Chargers wrapped up their two-day visit to their former hometown with a light practice at 6,500-seat Torero Stadium, where Jim Harbaugh began his head coaching career 22 years ago.

Harbaugh, heading into his third season as the Bolts' coach, hired McDaniel less than three weeks after he was fired as head coach following a four-year run with the Dolphins. McDaniel went 35-33, with wild-card losses after each of his first two seasons.

The idiosyncratic McDaniel is one of the top offensive minds in football. He's bringing his speed-based schemes and high-flying attacks to a Chargers offense that ranked 12th in the NFL last season.

He's working to get franchise quarterback Justin Herbert to make quicker throws, in large part to help keep him upright. Herbert absorbed the most sacks and hits of his six-year career last season, culminating when he was sacked six times in a 16-3 AFC wild-card game loss to the New England Patriots. It was the second playoff one-and-done under Harbaugh, who's gone 11-6 in each of his two seasons with the Bolts.

“I think one of the attractive things coming to the Chargers was the roster that was already built as, you know, all the recent draft picks were targets of mine on the other side of the country,” McDaniel said. "As a group, I talked to the offense the first day of the offseason back in April, about being fast, physical, with elite technique.

“So what that looks like is, it doesn’t mean with your 40 time that you’re a fast guy. It means everyone playing to their full speed, shocking the defense at the snap, a physical brand of football with elite technique and fundamentals.”

Tuesday was the team's first practice in pads.

Earlier in the offseason, McDaniel said Herbert was a bit nervous making throws earlier in his reads.

“To be clear, he wasn’t as nervous as he was proposing,” McDaniels quipped, referring to Herbert’s recent engagement to Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Madison Beer.

“But he was still nervous. Absolutely. You know, I think that's been my favorite part of practice, that alongside some of the growth we’ve had up front in terms of our line of scrimmage play," McDaniels said. "But with Justin, full lean-in, full buy-in. And I can’t stress it enough. It's very difficult for high performers to do things outside of what has given them success.”

Herbert threw an interception on Tuesday and McDaniel was OK with it.

“What you’re asking a quarterback to do is not succumb to the compass of results,” McDaniel said. “It’s the process of how we’re doing things and his investment and full immersion into that process. Yesterday, he threw a pick, simply because he’s leaning into the process and getting comfortable with all the different things we’re asking him to do.

“On that particular play, he has his eyes set on an eligible here and reset the throw and got an incredible learning experience that will benefit him in the game,” McDaniel said. "So it's to his credit. He's really progressing as fast as one could even picture, much faster than I was planning for. The Chargers organization is doing well by his daily effort, for sure."

Tackle Joe Alt, who is back after season-ending ankle surgery in November, spoke highly of McDaniel.

“I love coach McDaniel," Alt said. ”The way he approaches offensive game planning and playing has been really fun for me to learn. I look forward to being able to continue to work down this path through training camp and into games and continue to build because it's a lot of fun. I think a lot of guys will say it: He's a wizard. It's exciting to see what we'll be able to do."

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Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. signs autographs during an NFL football training camp Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. runs through a drill during an NFL football training camp Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Chargers offensive tackle Joe Alt speaks during an NFL football training camp Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Chargers offensive tackle Joe Alt signs autographs during an NFL football training camp Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh greets fans during an NFL football training camp Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

The Trump administration said Wednesday it will shut down a Kentucky organ donation group accused of continuing plans for organ retrieval from some patients who unexpectedly showed signs of life.

While those surgeries were canceled, the cases made headlines several years ago, prompting a spike in people around the country revoking their organ donor registrations.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called the nonprofit Network for Hope “a bad apple” and accused it of “persistent safety failures” in announcing the government was starting the process to decertify it.

Network for Hope is one of about 55 organ procurement organizations, or OPOs, that coordinate the recovery of organs from deceased donors and help match them to patients on the nation’s transplant list. In a statement, Network for Hope said it “strongly disagrees” with Kennedy’s decision and will appeal.

Among the allegations is that in 2021, Network for Hope’s predecessor organization pressured a local hospital to proceed with plans to withdraw life support and retrieve organs from a man despite signs that he was waking up from a drug overdose. The man survived and his sister joined Kennedy at a press briefing Wednesday, thanking him.

OPOs cannot declare if someone is dead — only a doctor at the hospital treating the person can do that. Only after that declaration can a donor agency assume responsibility for the deceased, looking for potential recipients and scheduling surgeons to come in to retrieve the organs. Most donations come from people declared brain-dead. But sometimes doctors say a patient has a nonsurvivable injury and the family decides to withdraw life support — and in certain circumstances, that also can allow for donation.

In its statement, Network for Hope said it complies with all federal organ policies. It said that over a year ago it implemented a “first-of-its-kind” new safeguard allowing anyone — including health professionals or family members — to call a pause in donation planning if there’s any concern the patient won’t be appropriate.

Kentucky recently passed a law mandating that pause and the federal Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network is working on new rules that also would require all the nation’s OPOs to implement it.

More than 100,000 people are on the U.S. transplant list, the vast majority seeking a kidney, and thousands will die waiting for a new organ. There were more than 49,000 transplants last year, a record despite a small drop in donations from the deceased — the first such dip in a decade.

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FILE - Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)