The Los Angeles Chargers‘ quarterback, Justin Herbert, didn’t require any major repair over the past six seasons, and yet he failed to find postseason success. In the 2026 offseason, however, his new offensive coordinator, Mike McDaniel, has convinced him to make some major changes, focused more on his footwork than throwing, as he implements a new technique in the shotgun formation.

“If you give them a reason behind whatever you’re trying to do, that’s where you can get people’s buy-in,” McDaniel said. “I think he understood the extreme measures…All of those things are really gonna benefit us in the long term. I’m trying to find the margins.”

Herbert is a right-handed quarterback, and over his first six seasons in the NFL, he kept his right foot forward in a shotgun formation before taking the snap. McDaniel, meanwhile, has asked him to change his stance heading into the 2026 season. Instead of his right foot, Herbert is now placing his left foot forward right before the snap. When asked about the reasoning, McDaniel noted that the Chargers are looking to take Herbert’s game to the next level.

“It wasn’t like I was trying to fix something that was like, ‘This is broke,'” McDaniel said, per the team’s website. “We’re looking at a player that is very, very talented and top tier in achievement his whole career. [We want to] try to take him to the next level where he can own certain things and really get the ball to his teammates as fast as possible and help the efficiency of the offense.”

McDaniel’s emphasis on Herbert’s footwork isn’t coming out of nowhere. The offensive coordinator has previously worked alongside Kyle Shanahan with several teams, including the Houston Texans, Washington, the Cleveland Browns, and the Atlanta Falcons. Shanahan and McDaniel traditionally prefer their quarterbacks to keep the opposite foot forward, meaning a left-handed quarterback would have his right foot forward and vice versa. And the results spoke for themselves.

In 2016, Matt Ryan threw for 4944 yards and 38 touchdowns, and won his maiden MVP honors. In 2023, when McDaniel was serving as the Miami Dolphins head coach, Tua Tagovailoa led the league in passing yards after throwing for 4624 yards and 29 touchdowns. Fast forward to now, and the way things are shaping up, the Chargers’ signal-caller is seemingly excited to work with his new OC.

“Mike just talked about how he saw the quarterback position being played and why he thought that was the best way,” Herbert said on Wednesday. “Jumped on board and got as many reps as we could, and it’s been going good so far.”

The reason behind Herbert and McDaniel emphasizing the quarterback’s footwork is to get the ball out quicker. To put that in perspective, Herbert steps with his left foot while throwing the football. However, if he’d have his left foot forward even before taking the snap, he could get the ball out sooner.

And it shouldn’t be an entirely unfamiliar technique for Herbert. Back in college, he often took snaps with his feet parallel. Now in Los Angeles, he’s adjusting to keeping his left foot forward. The quarterback even stepped away from throwing footballs multiple times this offseason and spent days focusing solely on his footwork while holding a green ball with two handles.

Last season, Herbert averaged 2.93 seconds to get the ball out. At the same time, due to multiple injuries on the offensive line, the Chargers used different combinations, leading Herbert to take 54 sacks and face 263 total pressures. With Mike McDaniel coaching and Justin Herbert not relying solely on his arms, it’d be worth watching how the 2026 season unfolds.