Most coaches and players would dread having to spend a week on the road. Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers are relishing it.
With games in the Eastern time zone for two straight weeks, the Chargers are staying in Charlotte, North Carolina, this week before facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in an AFC matchup of 2-0 teams. The Bolts began their extended road trip on a great note with a 26-3 victory against Carolina last Sunday.
“There’s no reason why we can’t have some fun. Let’s bring the board games and the snacks. It’s a team that enjoys each other’s company, which is one of the positive things I’ve noticed,” Harbaugh said about the extended road trip last week.
Harbaugh is no stranger to staying East when his team has back-to-back games. He did it with the San Francisco 49ers in 2011 and ’12, when the team practiced in Youngstown, Ohio, for a week. Youngstown may seem like an unorthodox choice, but it is the home base for the DeBartolo family, which owns the 49ers.
However, Harbaugh has fond memories of Youngstown since the Niners won both times after practicing there.
The Chargers have five road games in the Eastern time zone for the first time since 2005. The most recent time they had two straight weeks out East was 2004. In 2013 and ’17, the Chargers had two straight road games against East teams, but there was a bye week in between.
In 2018, the Bolts stayed in Cleveland before traveling to London for their “home game” against Tennessee.
Harbaugh realizes spending time away from home and from the team’s new palatial training facility isn’t ideal. But staying in Charlotte and traveling to Pittsburgh on Saturday is a difference of 3,908 air miles because it meant not taking two cross-country trips.
According to the NFL, the Chargers were forecasted to have the most miles traveled this season. The change in itineraries drops them down to eighth.
“The body clock, it’s like, we would fly back (after the Carolina game), and we would be getting back on a plane in practically 4 1/2 days and flying back. That’s the main reason for doing it — the 10:00 West Coast time and body clock. Just some of the studies, by people a lot smarter than me, have figured out that’s a good way to do it,” Harbaugh said.
Team captains Justin Herbert, Derwin James and Rashawn Slater were also all-in on not traveling back after the Panthers game.
“I’m of the mindset it’s a great opportunity for us to be together, to focus on our game, and spend time with each other, get to know each other,” Herbert said. “I think any time you spend a week with your guys, especially like it is in camp, I think it’s an opportunity for us to grow and to get better.”
While some of his teammates will break out the chess boards, Herbert will play Settlers of Catan. In the Risk-like strategy game, players try to gather resources to collect territory.
Harbaugh mentioned that he is more of a Monopoly player but also enjoys chess. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who was also on Harbaugh’s staff in San Francisco, doesn’t see much downtime for the coaching staff.
“It’s all business. We’re on the clock, but it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “It really is a good team bonding time because everybody’s around each other.”
NFL teams primarily on Pacific time are 260-303 since 1988 when they had to cross three time zones. Arizona is on standard time year-round, which slightly benefits the Cardinals if they have to play East in November, December or January.
After Sunday’s win, the Chargers are 55-58 since 1988 when going cross country, but they have won eight straight and nine of their past 10.
Besides Youngstown, which is 75 miles (120.70 kilometers) from Pittsburgh, the Chargers also had the option of setting up at The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.
The Greenbrier — which has three practice fields and a sports performance center that features a weight room and meeting spaces — has been utilized by the 49ers and Arizona Cardinals during the regular season. Denver will stay there next week between games against Tampa Bay and the New York Jets.
However, Harbaugh elected to practice for three days at UNC Charlotte because of his relationship with Biff Poggi, who is in his second year as head coach after two years at Michigan as associate head coach.
Charlotte practices in the morning, meaning the Chargers can remain on their regular 12:45-2:45 p.m. schedule.
“I’m excited to have him and excited that he can be here. Making that trip back after the Panthers game and turning right around to play the Steelers is a tough transition,” Poggi said during his Tuesday news conference.
It also means the Chargers can conduct on-field walkthroughs. When Harbaugh was at the 49ers and stayed in Youngstown, their walkthroughs were in a vacant parking lot behind the team hotel. In 2012, Harbaugh had buses surrounding the lot so that wandering cars, or possible spies from the Jets, could observe it.
“That was interesting. I mean, the conditions were pretty Spartan, but it was great,” Roman said. “We put the work in and just adapted. I think everybody had a great time.”
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