The Los Angeles Chargers head east to take on the Carolina Panthers, where Jim Harbaugh will face off against a familiar face, defensive coordinator, Ejiro Evero.
Evero began his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers as a quality control coach in 2011. Following the hiring of Jim Harbaugh in 2012, Evero was promoted to an offensive assistant role, where he worked for two seasons. In 2014, he transitioned to the defensive coaching staff. Evero remained with the 49ers until 2015 departing the year after Harbaugh’s dismissal, 2015.
Fast forward almost a decade and now the two coaches will shake hands at mid-field in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC ahead of their game, Harbaugh once again an NFL head coach and Evero a defensive coordinator.
Evero Got A Front Row Seat To Study The Jim Harbaugh Offense
Evero got a front-row seat to how Harbaugh and former 49ers and current Chargers offensive coordinator, Greg Roman operate their offense.
“You just know that Jim’s teams,” Evero said “that’s gonna be an organizational decision in how they play, starting up front on both sides of the ball. Being physical, running the football, and so it’s not gonna be a surprise to us what’s going to happen on Sunday. We have to be ready for it.”
A big question heading into Jim Harbaugh’s first season with Justin Herbert was, will he change his stripes and lean into a more finesse passing attack?
If Week 1 against the Las Vegas Raiders was any indication, the answer is decidedly, “no.”
Justin Herbert attempted just 26 passes in that game. That is tied for the fourth-fewest in his career. That includes a game in which he left in the third quarter due to injury.
Conversely, the Chargers ran the ball 27 times for 176 yards. That was fifth-most rushing yards in the first week of the season. Much of that was on the back of free agent running back addition J.K. Dobbins. He broke the game open with two explosive runs of 46 yards and 61 yards.
Evero mentioned the requirement to be ready for Harbaugh’s game plan. An important aspect of that will be the lasting all four quarters against the expected Harbaugh front. The Chargers struggled to get the running game churning until the second half when the war of attrition took its toll on the Raiders defensive line.
While they won’t be caught off guard by the style they play, the Panthers will also have to account for Gus Edwards. Roman stated he would run with the back who has the hot hand, regardless of the name on the back of the jersey.
