Kellen Moore takes over as offensive coordinator for the Chargers in 2023 after Joe Lombardi’s offense faltered in last season’s campaign. However, one has to wonder just how long Moore will stick around in LA. In previous seasons, he’s taken head coaching interviews and is generally viewed as one of the young up-and-coming minds in the league.
Prior to taking the Chargers’ job this offseason, Moore interviewed for the Panthers’ head coaching gig before it was given to Frank Reich. Assuming he’s successful with Justin Herbert, the career trajectory for Moore ultimately points up toward a head coaching job.
In replacing him for 2024, the Chargers probably commit to an extensive search to find the best candidate. But there are some in-house coaches that make sense to potentially take over. Passing game specialist Tom Arth or quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier may have the first shots at a promotion.
Another potential candidate could be Chargers’ assistant coach Chris Beatty. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper wrote a thorough profile on the LA Chargers’ wide receivers coach earlier this week.
In 2021, Beatty made a pitch to wide receiver Mike Williams and Lombardi that the former Clemson product could grow his route tree to have a career year: As more slants and leverage routes were called for Williams, his stats increased. 2021 was a career year for Williams. In the 2022 offseason, the Chargers re-signed him to a three-year, $60 million extension.
It’s hard to ignore the work Beatty has done with the receiver room, even in suboptimal circumstances. As the aforementioned Williams was in and out of the lineup with injuries in 2022, Beatty had to rely on veteran journeyman DeAndre Carter to buoy the positional group. Carter had 538 receiving yards in 2022 after he never previously had a season with even 300 yards. Beatty has also gotten the best performances out of college wide receivers he’s coached such as DJ Moore and Jordan Addison.
Beatty aspires to have another primary play-calling job again for the first time in over 10 years. Per Popper’s article, Beatty did an interview at one point to be Kevin O’Connell’s offensive coordinator in Minnesota. Working with a trio of Keenan Allen, Quentin Johnston, and the aforementioned Williams could continue to bolster his resume for when the time comes to interview again.