There is a reason that the Los Angeles Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh. He has been successful at turning losing football teams into winning ones. And he does that by doing things differently, the Jim Harbaugh Way.
The Harbaugh way is a holistic view of running a football team. From the cleanliness of the weight room to curating the practice playlist this philosophy points toward the great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden’s ethos, The Way You Do Anything is The Way You Do Everything.
Chargers Head Coach Trains The Smaller Muscle Groups
As Wooden believed, Harbaugh also believes “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.“
In a recent interview with The Ringer, Chargers presumptive starting center, Bradley Bozeman said Harbaugh even cares about little muscles.
“Definitely the most different mentality and focus on [training],” Bozeman said. “You’re working smaller muscle groups, things you don’t typically work. But you’re still working larger muscle groups and doing the same things you were, but in a completely different light.”
Beyond just fitting in nicely with his coaching philosophy, much of the recent sports science research points toward the importance of building smaller stabilization muscles, say the five muscles in the knee or the 29 in the foot, to prevent injury.
Of course, working those little details (muscles) will, in theory, result in the big thing of having more healthy players on the field than your opponents. Availability is the best ability in football because health translates to more wins and health starts with working the smaller muscles.
The Chargers wrap their preseason against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, August 24th, and kick off the regular season against the Las Vegas Raiders on September 8th. That will be the first time Harbaugh has coached an NFL regular season game in almost 10 years.
