Getty Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh.
The Las Vegas Raiders will be seeing a familiar face in Week 1 as the team’s former quarterback coach Jim Harbaugh is now the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. This game will mark Gardner Minshew’s debut as the team’s starting quarterback.
Harbaugh has been coaching in college throughout Minshew’s NFL career but he’s admired him from afar. The coach has some high praise for the veteran quarterback.
“I’ve always been a big fan,” Harbaugh said of Minshew, per a September 6 column from Raiders.com. “He’s a starting NFL quarterback. I think he presents a lot of problems. He plays with great ability and knowledge of the system and confidence. He’s a winner. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
Harbaugh’s career as a quarterback wasn’t too different from Minshew’s so far. Both bounced around the NFL starting games for multiple teams but were never considered big stars at the position. It’s easy to see why Harbaugh would have big respect for a player like Minshew.
Gardner Minshew Enjoying Preparation for Season Opener
This is only the second time in his career that Minshew will be a Week 1 starter. His first time, he went 1-7 before getting benched. He’s hoping to avoid that and he’s been taking the preparation process in stride.
“I’ve always really enjoyed the process of it,” Minshew said during his September 4 media availability. “If you only like the games, that’s like 1% of the time you’re doing this and the rest of the time you’re miserable, that doesn’t really make sense to me. So, I always just try to enjoy every second in the building. The locker room, the team atmosphere is something that’s just so special and something you never want to take for granted.”
This is a major opportunity for Minshew. The Raiders don’t have a young franchise quarterback in waiting and Aidan O’Connell isn’t the stiffest of competition. This is the best chance Minshew has ever had to earn a long-term starting job. There’s a lot of talk about who the Raiders might target at quarterback next offseason but it’s not impossible they’d keep Minshew in the position if he leads the team to the playoffs.
Greg Roman Praises Las Vegas Raiders
The Chargers have a new coaching staff this offseason that isn’t going to be too familiar with the Raiders. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman was out of football for the last two years but he’s very familiar with defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
Roman has a lot of respect for the Raiders and is looking forward to the chess match with Graham.
“We’ve got a really, really strong opponent to start off with,” Roman said, per Raiders.com. “Looking at the Raiders defense, they’ve got talent everywhere. They play extremely hard. They’re very well-coached. A very experienced defensive coordinator. We know we’ve got our work cut out for us, but we’re very excited about the challenge.”
The Raiders and Chargers are two teams that are to get a gauge on this season. Either could be good or bad and have a lot of new coaches. Week 1 could be very telling for both teams as they enter the season.
