Eyebrows raise. Eyes dart back and forth. Heads cock to the side.
When Jim Harbaugh starts talking, Chargers players never quite know how to react.
“It’s like a really fun wild roller coaster,” quarterback Taylor Heinicke said, “that comes with a cool ending.”
Unexpected, unorthodox and unquestionably unique, Harbaugh’s growing phrasebook has set a quirky yet firm foundation for the new Chargers era.
Eight months since Harbaugh’s arrival, players haven’t learned to predict where his latest speech will turn. He quotes Nelson Mandela. He reads lyrics to an entire Black Eyed Peas song. He revives centuries-old idioms.
Other coaches could lose their players through meandering mottos. Harbaugh’s magic is his ability to keep every player buckled in for the ride.
“When you’re around someone who is of that energy, that stature, it’s hard to get lost,” linebacker Daiyan Henley said. “And the best thing about him is that everything is proven. This is what he does.”
A glimpse into Harbaugh’s Chargers dictionary:
‘The worm has turned’
In the euphoric celebration of the Chargers’ season-opening win against the Las Vegas Raiders, Harbaugh used an expression credited to English writer John Heywood and referenced by Williams Shakespeare. At first, wide receiver Simi Fehoko glanced around the locker room for reassurance about what it meant. The receiver was met by a room full of coaches and teammates who also had no idea.
“I thought it was hilarious,” Fehoko said.
The expression refers to how a situation can change. Even a meek worm can suddenly turn around and resist.
The Chargers, who were embarrassed by their AFC West rivals the previous year, became the suddenly emboldened worm, making an early declaration that they were turning the franchise’s reputation of mediocrity around.
“We sensed the momentum shifting, and we know who we have in this room,” Fehoko said. “And as long as 10 [quarterback Justin Herbert] is back there, we know that at any point in the game, we’ll always be in the game.”
The team that had long struggled to finish games scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to hold off the Raiders, sealed by an eight-play, 92-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass from Herbert to rookie Ladd McConkey.
Harbaugh, who had secured his first win as the Chargers head coach, thanked players in the locker room on behalf of all the franchise’s new additions. Then a booming voice interrupted the coach mid-sentence.
“The worm has turned!” Joey Bosa shouted.
The locker room erupted in cheers.
‘Steel in the spine’
The type of game that has fans covering their faces in despair had Harbaugh digging into his bag of expressions.
“Experience in these kinds of games,” the coach said during his news conference after the Chargers failed to score a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals and gave up the game-winning field goal as time expired, “put the steel in the spine.”
If Harbaugh’s latest line sounds painful, that’s because it’s meant to be.
“It’s the stuff that builds a callus,” Harbaugh said. “There’s a taste in the mouth, you gotta suck it up.”
All three of the Chargers’ losses have been decided in the fourth quarter. After going 0-7 in games decided by three points or fewer last season, the Chargers still are trying to steel themselves to make a jump toward winning tight games.
“You never want to sulk, like head down,” offensive lineman Trey Pipkins III said. “So stay up, stay positive and use this to just harden yourself, strengthen yourself.”
‘Don’t worry’
Probably the tamest of Harbaugh’s regular phrases, the coach’s final words in each pregame speech stick with Pipkins the most.
“Play as hard as you can, as fast as you can for as long as you can,” Harbaugh tells players, “and don’t worry.”
Pipkins is in his first season at right guard after shifting inside from tackle to accommodate first-round draft pick Joe Alt. The reshuffled offensive line was without Alt and left tackle Rashawn Slater for one game.
Although the Chargers have tried to establish a running game under first-year offensive coordinator Greg Roman, the results have been inconsistent at best. Pressure is mounting as the Chargers approach the midpoint of the season.
But grounded by his favorite Harbaugh phrase, Pipkins has stayed calm through the twists.
“You can get caught up in this world where you’re worried about everything that could possibly happen, and then you forget to take the right steps to start the play,” Pipkins said. “You do the basic stuff right, you win 80% of the time. … It’s just a good reminder that all the stuff you can’t control doesn’t really matter.
“Focus on you, put yourself in the right spot and then just trust your instincts.”
‘Who’s got it better than us?’
The definitive “Harbaughism” shared by both Jim and older brother John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens, the Chargers break huddles after games with their coach at the center shouting, “Who’s got it better than us?”
“No-body!” the team responds, elongating the first syllable.
The phrase the Harbaugh brothers credit to their father Jack sometimes flashes on the massive screen in the lobby of the Chargers practice facility. More than just a family motto or team chant, the expression has ascended to iconic status for many players who work in the Chargers’ $250-million training facility, soak in the sun’s rays during a fall practice and cool off with the gentle South Bay breeze.
“I take a step back and think about my life over the last 10 years, I’m living the dream, you know?” said Heinicke, the backup quarterback who joined the Chargers in a trade in August. “As a kid, I always wanted to be an NFL quarterback. The fact I get to do this every day for the last 10 years … I believe no one has it better than me.”
Running back Hassan Haskins already had heard the phrase for years before the Chargers claimed him off waivers after training camp this summer. After playing for Harbaugh at Michigan, reuniting with his college coach in L.A. and getting to join their chorus of “no-body” in the huddle felt like returning to a familiar football family.
“It’s just a mindset really,” said Haskins, who was a third-team Associated Press All-American at Michigan in 2021. “Nobody can stop us. Nobody can bring us down.”
Harbaugh’s attitude of enthusiasm and gratitude helped carry the Wolverines to the national championship. He turned Stanford into a national powerhouse. He took the San Francisco 49ers to the NFC championship game three straight seasons.
At each stop, he carried his book of eccentric catchphrases with the plot always focused on winning.