The Chargers have begun their offseason program, and the first phase of the program is largely due to new executive director of player performance Ben Herbert.
Jim Harbaugh brought Herbert in from Michigan, where Herbert was Harbaugh’s strength coach, and gave him a new title because Harbaugh believed Herbert was vital to what the Chargers were going to do.
“Ben Herbert is huge on this level.,” Harbaugh said, via Chargers.com. “When I say basic training, I mean where everyone is, where they are starting, where they need to improve. Just to participate here. One thing about Herb is that you know he’s going to be there every day and he’s going to be ready to coach guys and he’s going to have the energy to coach anybody that’s out there. No one combines determination, science with the discipline of an old-school strength and conditioning coach like him. He is the best player or coach I’ve ever seen or seen.
Herbert says the players’ goal is to strengthen the areas of the human body that get the most stress in football, “making you harder to break.”
“We’ve been together for six years. We’re just like that in terms of the philosophy, we’re just doing anything and everything for the players,” Harbaugh said. “What matters is the way we see it. Being good at football makes them the best version of themselves on and off the field. . . . We’re trying to do that combination because you can make yourself better, stronger, more agile, more flexible, more lean, more muscle mass, less fat. We had a lot of the same thoughts on football and the bottom line, trying to get better at football.
Veteran Hayden Hurst said after the first day of the season with the Chargers that a strength coach had never seen Herbert do the same amount of groundwork he did on day one and was impressed by Herbert’s passion for helping his players get in shape. Avoid soft tissue injuries. A healthy Chargers team could be a better Chargers team under the leadership of Harbaugh and Herbert.