Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh woke up at 4:30 A.M. one day last offseason and realized that he’s got to get quarterback Justin Herbert to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. An 11-6 season and a playoff berth later, the bond between the coach and the quarterback has only grown deeper.

Kay Adams sat down with Jim Harbaugh at El Segundo, where the Chargers are hosting their training camp, and noted that Herbert “willed” his team into the playoffs. She then asked Harbaugh what he learnt watching Herbert in action, and Harbaugh gave his QB the highest praise.

“Everything that I already knew about him, I used to give adjectives to it, but I just…” Harbaugh said, pausing before going on. “I just think he’s the best there ever was. That’s really what I learned this past… Every time you think he’s reached the top rung of my esteem, he finds another rung on the ladder to take. So, yeah, love him. I’d follow him to hell and back. He’s the best.”

This respect for No. 10 has only been growing since Harbaugh took over the Chargers’ reins in 2024. In the very first game of that season, Harbaugh dropped a series of slaps and punches on Herbert’s shoulder pads – a way to calm a player down that Harbaugh had learned during his playing days. Even that small gesture translated well for Herbert, and left some of his teammates in shock because Herbert always liked to keep to himself, away from the spotlight.

Last season, Harbaugh called Herbert a “mighty man” after watching him in the Week 6 clash with the Miami Dolphins. Herbert avoided sacks on two consecutive downs, pushed through the defense, and made a play that would help the Chargers set up the game-winning field goal.

“It’s at a physical level only a couple guys can reach,” Harbaugh said after that 29-27 win. “But mentally, it’s an emotionally hijacking thing to be spun around like that. To keep your wits, visualize where someone is, relocate, lock back in, and make an accurate throw. That’s reserved for the best of the best.”

Now, Herbert has been the same player who threw for 4,336 yards and 31 touchdowns in his rookie season. But since Harbaugh took over, Herbert seems to be having more fun with the offense, pushing his team to make plays like that drive against Miami time and again. That grit doesn’t show up on stat sheets, but that is what Harbaugh comes back to when he says he’d “follow him to hell and back.”

Since being drafted 6th overall in 2020, Herbert has taken his squad to the playoffs thrice, but never beyond the Wild Card. The Chargers are aiming to break that drought this offseason and get Herbert his first postseason win. To that effect, Harbaugh believes new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel – who watched Herbert carve up his old Dolphins team last season – will be the perfect fit.

“I’m just excited about the ability of Justin and the ability of Mike McDaniel,” Harbaugh said to Fox’s Eric Williams this April. “The way those two think. The way they see football. It’s just such a good fit. And I’m excited to see that.”

Whether this fit translates into a deep playoff berth or not, we know the strongest voice of support behind Justin Herbert will be his head coach.