“That’s what we stressed to everybody—we got to stay together because we all we got,” Kana’i Mauga once declared after a gritty college battle, his voice steady like a linebacker reading a quarterback’s eyes. Fast-forward to 2025, and that same mantra of unity is humming through the halls of Chargers HQ. Jim Harbaugh, the maestro of Midwest muscle turned SoCal savant.

Just landed two under-the-radar signings that scream team-first grit—Kana’i Mauga and deep-threat receiver Dalevon Campbell. For a squad looking to pivot from ‘close but no cigar’ to bona fide contenders, these moves aren’t just additions—they’re declarations.

Let’s start with Kana’i Mauga, the 25-year-old ‘backer from Waianae, Hawaii—a town better known for surfboards than sacks. At USC, he was a human cheat code: 206 tackles, 3 picks, and a knack for showing up when the lights burned brightest (see: his 14-tackle, pick-slinging showcase in the 2020 Pac-12 title game).

But the NFL? Let’s just say his stat line—6 tackles over 17 games—doesn’t exactly pop. Yet here’s the thing: Harbaugh doesn’t collect résumés; he collects dawgs. Mauga’s journey—from Broncos PS to Raiders IR to Chargers camp—is straight out of a Rocky montage. “I’m fully committed,” he vowed during his USC days, and now, in powder blue, he’s betting on himself to become the latest Harbaugh reclamation project. Think Patrick Willis 2.0, but with island vibes.

Meanwhile, the Chargers’ defense—a unit that held foes to a league-low 301 points in 2024—just got deeper. Mauga’s versatility (special teams hustle, run-stuffing thump) slots perfectly into Jesse Minter’s scheme, which thrives on disguised pressures and ‘next man up’ grit. As Harbaugh gushed last season: “Super excited about our safeties. Alohi [Gilman], Derwin [James] … it doesn’t get any better than that.” Mauga’s signing? That’s Harbaugh doubling down on his belief that culture trumps contract size.

Enter Dalevon “Harbaugh’s catalyst” Campbell

Now, let’s talk about the 6’4” lightning bolt LA snagged from South Carolina. Dalevon Campbell isn’t just a receiver—he’s a math problem. At Nevada, he averaged 19.2 yards per catch; with the Gamecocks, that number ballooned to 26.0. Translation: when this dude’s on the field, the end zone is always in range. Picture Randy Moss in Madden, except Campbell’s real-life 73-yard TD grab at Nevada would’ve broken your controller. For Justin Herbert—a QB who’s basically Thor with an arm cannon—this is like handing Picasso a new shade of blue.

Campbell’s college tape? Pure poetry. At South Carolina, he turned routine slants into 58-yard symphonies and turned Mizzou’s secondary into a TikTok meme with an 86-yard two-catch clinic. ‘Speed kills,’ as  Harvey Dent quipped, ‘but you can’t outrun momentum.’ Campbell embodies both. With Ladd McConkey stretching defenses horizontally and Campbell threatening to vaporize safeties, Herbert’s play-action game just got scary.

Harbaugh’s Chargers aren’t rebuilding—they’re rethreading, weaving undervalued talent into a tapestry of toughness. Mauga’s grind mirrors the coach’s ‘nobody’s entitled to squat’ ethos, while Campbell’s verticality offers Herbert the kind of weapon that turns 3rd-and-15 into six points. Together, they’re proof that in the NFL, success isn’t about collecting stars—it’s about aligning constellations.

So, bolt up, Chargers fans. With Harbaugh at the helm and these two hungry additions, the only thing louder than the SoFi Stadium roar this fall might be the collective “ooh” after another Herbert-to-Campbell moonshot. Or as Mauga would say: “We’re in a hostile environment—stick together.” In LA’s quest for Lombardi glory, that’s not just a quote—it’s a battle cry