The heat of Chargers camp isn’t just coming from the turf—it’s burning hotter in the media room. Jim Harbaugh and Mike Florio are locked in a not-so-subtle standoff over Justin Herbert’s future. Moreover, it is a battle over what leadership should look like in 2025. While Harbaugh paints Herbert as the sheriff, Florio questions whether he earned the badge or they handed it to him too soon. One camp sees destiny; the other, a manufactured myth.

And caught in the middle is Herbert himself—quiet, hyper-talented, still chasing his first playoff win. With over 21,000 passing yards in five seasons and a 23:3 TD–INT ratio in 2024, the major problem for Herbert was a brutal playoff outing against Houston with four picks. That, plus Harbaugh’s Hall-of-Fame-or-bust mission, has everyone asking: Is Herbert already elite, or just hyped?

Mike Florio went straight to the point. In a conversation with Chris Simms, Florio called it exactly how he saw it. “That’s basically what he said: the rest of you suck.” Florio was reacting to Jim Harbaugh’s recent public praise of Justin Herbert during the NFL Network’s Back Together Weekend, where the Chargers coach went all-in on his franchise QB, aimed at the rest of the locker room. While some fans saw it as classic Harbaugh hype, Florio categorized it as a public power play that might rub Herbert’s teammates the wrong way.

Chris Simms took the calmer route, acknowledging Herbert’s high-level play. He, however, cautioned that Herbert is still not quite in the Mahomes-Burrow-Allen stratosphere, especially with that brutal playoff collapse to the Jaguars still hanging in the air. Florio, on the other hand, didn’t hold back. He argued that Herbert’s leadership style may not come naturally, and Harbaugh’s over-the-top praise was meant to fill that void.

For a team trying to reset its culture under Harbaugh, that kind of messaging hits differently. As Florio put it, Herbert isn’t the prototypical vocal, alpha QB—‘not the John Wayne walking through the door‘ type. So, in his view, Harbaugh has to ‘prop him up’ in public to get the locker room to fall in line.

“There are quarterbacks who walk into a room and no one needs to say anything—they’re the guy. Others need someone to say, ‘Hey, everyone—this is your guy. Follow him,” he explained. But according to him, that roar might have cost Harbaugh locker room capital. “He’s been the guy since 2020 and hasn’t achieved what he should have because of who he is. And you know why that is? Because the rest of you suck,” Florio added.

With the Chargers gearing up for the new season, Mike Florio’s consistent commentary on Herbert has taken on new meaning this offseason. Back in May, on NBC’s PFT Live, Florio laid it out plainly: “Herbert might be under more pressure than anybody in football… I think Jim Harbaugh loves Justin Herbert. I think he’s trying to will Justin Herbert into fully embracing his destiny… where he believes he’s a Hall of Famer, where when he gets in those moments, he’s going to go out there and he’s going to be John Wayne.” That comment wasn’t just about hype. Harbaugh’s job, according to Florio, is to be the surrogate leader until Herbert owns the locker room in full.

Florio hasn’t shied away from saying what others won’t. Back in a spring video clip titled “How Jim Harbaugh can help Justin Herbert develop as a leader,” Florio put it bluntly: “He might not be acting like the sheriff, but he’s the sheriff. Until he takes over, the coach has to get everyone’s attention internally and externally to say: This guy’s the man.” With Harbaugh propping him up, Herbert isn’t just under pressure; he is being positioned.

Harbaugh is all praise for Justin Herbert

All of this stemmed from Harbaugh’s bold statements during a national segment where he said, “Justin Herbert’s biggest weakness is all of those that he’s counting on—coaches, offensive line, playmakers, receivers, running backs—to get up to his level.” He even went so far as to say, “I wake up every day to try to get to his level.” And, he has been consistently hyping him up. Back in January, Harbaugh famously described Herbert not as a “house plant,” but as “field corn”—tough, and always producing. “I mean, that’s Justin Herbert,” he told SI in January this year.

Just days earlier, after the playoff loss to Houston, Harbaugh pushed back hard against outside criticism. “Completely unfair,” he told NFL.com on Jan. 15. “We did him a disservice and didn’t put him in the positions to be successful enough, but he played like a beast.” In Harbaugh’s world, Herbert is both the engine and the compass. “There’s nobody in this entire organization who gives more blood, sweat and tears,” he said.

The momentum only picked up from there. By February 26, Harbaugh doubled down with NBC Sports, calling Herbert “one of the all-time greats” and saying, “I would follow him anywhere.” A couple of months later on SI.com, he let the mission slip: “I woke up the other day and said, ‘Gotta get Justin Herbert to the Hall of Fame.’” As the rest of the offense scrambles to catch up, Harbaugh’s tone has stayed consistent. But depending on who you ask, it came off more like a warning shot.

Moreover, with Keenan Allen gone, a rookie WR room, and a 0–2 playoff record in Herbert’s back pocket, the stakes are high. Harbaugh is now banking on second-year WR Ladd McConkey, rookie Trey Harris, and a revamped offensive system to elevate Herbert and push him toward greatness.