Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Chargers introduced Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach on Thursday. Here are the top takeaways from Harbaugh’s presser.
The Los Angeles Chargers introduced Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach on Thursday.
Here are my top takeaways from Harbaugh’s presser:
The Chargers have interviewed 15 head coaching candidates.
On Saturday afternoon’s edition of SportsCenter, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that the Chargers are likely to interview between 4-6 candidates in their second round of interviews next week.
The news ahead of when the Chargers finished their first round of interviews on Saturday with Aaron Glenn, Ben Johnson, and Raheem Morris.
On Friday, the Chargers’ betting favorite for head coach Jim Harbaugh scheduled a second interview with the Falcons. Still, Bill Belichick remains a heavy favorite for the Atlanta job. If Harbaugh wants a second sit-down with the Chargers, he’s likely to get one next week.
Given all the smoke about Harbaugh and LA in this process, it feels like a safe bet to say he’ll be one of the finalists. What will be interesting is who the other finalists end up being. Johnson has generally been a distant second favorite behind Harbaugh throughout the process, so it wouldn’t be surprising to hear about him getting a call. But his availability next week is governed by the Lions’ fate, so with Detroit advancing to the conference championship, he won’t be able to interview in person until next week.
The same applies to other candidates, Mike Macdonald, Todd Monken, Steve Wilks, and Aaron Glenn.
Ultimately, we’re nearing clarity on a Chargers’ head coaching decision, but no offer seems imminent. While Harbaugh remains in the lead reportedly, LA seems serious about doing their due diligence in what is becoming a wide-ranging search.
Dan Quinn has previous head coaching experience.
The Chargers completed their head coach interview with Dan Quinn, the team announced on Friday.
Quinn finished up his third season as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. His defense finished in the top five in yards allowed per game, passing yards per game and points allowed per game.
Before joining Dallas, spent six seasons as the head coach of the Falcons, guiding them to two playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2016.
Quinn was the defensive coordinator of the Seahawks before his time with Atlanta. In his first season as DC, Seattle led the league in fewest points allowed, fewest yards allowed, and takeaways. That year, they won the Super Bowl over the Broncos.
Quinn has other coaching stops with the 49ers, Dolphins and Jets as a defensive line coach. He has also coached at the college level, most notably as the DC and defensive line coach for Florida for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
With 96 wins in his 12 seasons, David Shaw is the winningest coach at Stanford.
The Chargers completed their head coach interview with David Shaw, the team announced on Thursday.
Shaw, 51, previously was Stanford’s head coach from 2011 to 2022, overtaking Jim Harbaugh when he left the school to become the head coach of the 49ers in 2011.
In 12 seasons at Stanford, Shaw had a 96-54 record. He had three Pac-12 conference titles and two Rose Bowl wins.
Shaw and Harbaugh have ties that go back to 2006. That year, Shaw was Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator at the University of San Diego. In 2007, Shaw followed Harbaugh to Stanford in the same role until 2010.
Shaw has NFL experience, working as a quality control coach with the Raiders and Eagles. He’s also been the quarterbacks coach with the Raiders and QBs and wide receivers coach with the Ravens.
Before his time in the NFL, Shaw was an outside linebackers coach and tight ends coach at Western Washington.
The Bengals have had one of the top offenses since Brian Callahan took over that role.
The Chargers completed their head coach interview with Brian Callahan, the team announced on Tuesday.
Callahan finished his fifth season as the Bengals’ offensive coordinator, where he has engineered one of the top offenses in that timespan.
Before joining Cincinnati, Callahan was the Lions quarterbacks coach during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Matthew Stafford threw for over 4,000 yards in both years. In 2018, he held the same role with the Raiders. Derek Carr also surpassed the 4,000-yard mark in passing.
Callahan joined the NFL ranks as an assistant in 2010 until 2015 with the Broncos.
Callahan’s coaching career began in 2006 at UCLA as a graduate assistant. He then worked with the wide receivers in 2007 before becoming the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, CA.
There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the Chargers and Jim Harbaugh.
The Chargers completed their head coach interview with Jim Harbaugh, the team announced on Monday.
There has been plenty of buzz surrounding Harbaugh and Los Angeles, as numerous people and even oddsmakers believe that he is the most ideal candidate to fill their head coaching vacancy.
While the Bolts are seen as the frontrunners to land Harbaugh, he still has options, with Michigan wanting to ink him to a contract extension and other NFL teams, like the Raiders, having interest.
Over the past three seasons, Harbaugh has turned Michigan into a powerhouse in college football. The Wolverines are 40-3, with three Big Ten titles, three College Football Playoff appearances and now a national title with their win over Washington last week.
Before joining the college ranks, Harbaugh spent four seasons as the head coach of the 49ers from 2011-14, making the Super Bowl in his second year and finishing with a 44-19-1 record in the regular season and 5-3 in the postseason.
Patrick Graham comes with plenty of NFL experience.
The Chargers completed their head coach interview with Patrick Graham, the team announced on Thursday.
This marks the third head coach interview Los Angeles has conducted since the end of the regular season.
Graham comes with 15 years of NFL experience.
Graham finished his second season as the Raiders defensive coordinator, where he engineered a unit that finished ninth in scoring defense in 2023.
Before joining Las Vegas, Graham was a defensive coordinator for the Dolphins (2019) and Giants (2020-21).
Graham spent the 2018 season as the Packers inside linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator. In his first stint with the Giants, Graham coached the defensive line from 2016-17.
Graham began his NFL coaching career with the Patriots, where he spent seven seasons.
He was a coaching assistant in 2009 before being promoted to defensive assistant in 2010 and linebackers coach in 2011. Graham moved to defensive line from 2012-13 before returning to linebackers in 2014-15.
Kellen Moore served as the Chargers offensive coordinator.
The Chargers completed their head coach interview with Giff Smith, the team announced on Tuesday.
This marks the second head coach interview Los Angeles has conducted since the end of the regular season.
Moore served as the Bolts’ offensive coordinator this past season after five seasons with the Cowboys, including the last four as offensive coordinator.
The Chargers ranked 18th in total offense and 21st in scoring offense.
With Moore overseeing the offense, the Bolts struggled to run the ball, finishing 25th in that category. This was an area that the team was banking on him fixing. However, it did not come to fruition.
Even when Justin Herbert was healthy before sustaining a broken finger, the offense struggled to sustain consistency.
Moore interviewed for the Panthers’ head coaching vacancy last offseason.
Justin Herbert is prepared to give his input on who should be the next head coach and general manager.
As the face of the franchise, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is prepared to give his input on who should be the next head coach and general manager.
“Having been in the league for four years, I hope that I’m getting better with understanding and seeing things the way they are,” Herbert said.
The Chargers are currently looking for Brandon Staley’s and Tom Telesco’s replacements. In a statement made soon after their release, owner Dean Spanos shared that the organization’s focus would be “building and maintaining a championship-caliber program.”
Herbert signed a multi-year contract extension last July, meaning he will be the leader of the Chargers for the forseeable future. With Herbert at the helm, he knows the team’s success is part of his responsibility.
“I know that they’re working on that and we have complete faith and trust in the front office to do their job and they’ve done a great job so far,” Herbert said. “Hopefully I’m able to talk with them and offer whatever advice I have.
We’ve got complete trust in them and if they came to me and they needed my viewpoint, my perspective, I’d love to offer it,” Herbert said. “But like I said, I believe in them. They’ve done such a great job taking care of us as players.”
The status of the organization is currently at a crossroads. If the Chargers get it right, they can make the team successful with Herbert as its figurehead and smart personnel. But if they get this wrong, it’ll be a never-ending sob story for the franchise.
This marks the first head coach interview the Chargers have conducted since the end of the regular season.
The Chargers completed their head coach interview with Giff Smith, the team announced on Tuesday.
This marks the first head coach interview Los Angeles has conducted since the end of the regular season.
Smith served as the Bolts’ interim head coach for the final three games of the 2023 regular season after Brandon Staley was relieved of his duties.
Smith went 0-3 as interim HC, but the Chargers showed a lot of fight in each of those games, including taking the Bills down to the wire in Week 16.
Smith, who joined the Chargers in 2016, was in his second season as the team’s outside linebackers coach after spending six seasons coaching the defensive line. Before his time with the Bolts, he coached the defensive line for the Bills from 2010 to 2012 and the Titans from 2014 to 2015.
