Why Jim Harbaugh changed Chargers' practice structure with rookies this year

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh changed things up at rookie minicamp over the weekend. 

In the past, likely including other stops in the NFL, Harbaugh would go with a traditional format that featured 11-on-11 drills, if not seven-on-seven work and even one-on-one stuff that let the guys compete. 

But in a changeup, Harbaugh didn’t have big-name rookies like Omarion Hampton or any of the many undrafted free agents in attendance doing things like that this year. 

Instead, Harbaugh split practice into four sections, including things like individual drills, special teams and strength and conditioning. 

Harbaugh’s reasoning? Get to the more standard football items later in the summer. 

“Let’s identify the talent, let’s identify if a guy has the talent and is good enough to be here, then take them through the 11-on-11 in a couple weeks rather than do it backwards and see if they’re good at 11-on-11 right now,” Harbaugh said, according to The Athletic’s Daniel Popper. “We likely would not get that diamond in the rough, that gem, right? Because you wouldn’t see the talent as much. You might see who was able to learn a system better.”

If nothing else, it’s refreshing to see even an older ball coach like Harbaugh being willing to mix up his offseason approach. Yes, it’s only May, but it’ll be interesting to see from here if this means changes to training camp, even in subtle ways, too. 

Harbaugh made it clear that the Chargers would cut the roster down to 90-91 players by the end of the weekend, too, so it’s not like this new four-section approach won’t be competitive in its own right.