Is Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh overrated?

Very few NFL coaches receive as much public recognition as Jim Harbaugh, who took the Los Angeles Chargers' job in his return to the professional level last year.

Immediately upon adding Harbaugh, the Chargers were viewed as a potential sleeper in the AFC, and they delivered by winning 11 games and making the playoffs while playing a smashmouth brand of football.

Los Angeles was bounced in the Wild Card Round, but armed with significant cap space and one of the league's best pure passers in Justin Herbert, the offseason seemed very promising in LA.

However, the Chargers have ultimately not done a whole lot over the last several months, remaining relatively quiet in free agency (why haven't they signed Keenan Allen again?) and passing on several blockbuster trades, the most recent one being Jalen Ramsey.

Instead, Los Angeles appears to be relying on its 2025 NFL draft class, which featured weapons such as running back Omarion Hampton, wide receivers Tre Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith and tight end Oronde Gadsden II, the latter of whom has generated considerable buzz.

But for some reason, the Chargers have largely ignored their most prominent needs this offseason. They didn't add any veteran wide outs outside of Mike Williams, who may very well be cooked. They didn't fully address the interior of their offensive line. They allowed defensive tackle Poona Ford to walk when they clearly could have afforded to re-sign him.

The question is, how much of a role did Harbaugh have in these decisions? Was it mostly general manager Joe Hortiz calling the shots? Or did Harbaugh play a major factor in Los Angeles not swinging any needle-moving deals?

If it's the latter, then the question of whether or not Harbaugh is overrated as a football mind must be broached. He is a terrific coach. That isn't a question. But just how good is he at genuinely building a championship roster? He has never been an offensive guy, but not heavily pursuing some of the top weapons available this offseason is pretty inexcusable.

Hortiz is known for his conservative approach, but you have to think that if Harbaugh really pushed for D.K. Metcalf or George Pickens, for example, the Chargers would have made a more concerted effort to add either one of them.

Instead, Herbert is left with Ladd McConkey and no other truly reliable weapons in the aerial attack. And Los Angeles is also rolling with Bradley Bozeman at one of the guard spots, and for some reason, Trey Pipkins III is still on the roster when cutting him would have saved nearly $7 million.

Five-time Pro Bowl guard Brandon Scherff is still out there, and for some reason, the Bolts have not even been mentioned as a potential landing spot for him. Perhaps the match would have been more feasible had the Chargers released Pipkins earlier in the offseason.

All of this makes life more difficult than it needs to be for Herbert, who is already under immense pressure heading into his sixth NFL campaign as it is.

Harbaugh did a tremendous job making the most out of little last season. No one can deny how good of an in-game coach and motivator he is. But if his fingerprints are all over the Chargers' decisions since the end of the 2024 campaign, he needs to be held accountable for it.