![\"Las](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/las-vegas-raiders-v-los-angeles-chargers-inglewood-california-september-20-6.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 20: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Los Angeles Chargers looks on during the fourth quarter of the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium on September 20, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Mike McDaniel\u2019s immediate future is officially the burning question in Los Angeles as the winless Chargers<\/a> stumble into their bye week. Head coach Jim Harbaugh finally broke his silence following Sunday\u2019s 22-6 loss to Kansas City<\/a>, admitting the staff is prepared to \u201clook at everything\u201d to fix a broken offense.<\/p>\n Yet despite heavy speculation that a midseason coaching ax is swinging, McDaniel was spotted right alongside Harbaugh at Tuesday\u2019s practice, signaling the organization might not be ready to pull the trigger just yet.<\/p>\n Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh On Hot Seat? Not Yet<\/p>\n \n ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler<\/a> suggests the reason might be something entirely different.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the Chargers\u2019 style to pay a coach millions to not coach. But as a few industry sources pointed out, a bottom-of-the-league finish would force the Chargers to do some soul-searching, in part because the Chargers don\u2019t bring in as much revenue for their home games as other teams do, because they don\u2019t own their home stadium. Maintaining excitement is important in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n The Chargers don\u2019t own SoFi Stadium. They pay rent to Stan Kroenke and the Rams<\/a>. Because they are essentially guests in their own building and second-class citizens in Los Angeles, they get killed on game-day revenue if fans don\u2019t buy tickets.<\/p>\n When the Chargers are bad, opposing fans (like Chiefs, Raiders<\/a>, or Cowboys<\/a> fans) completely take over SoFi Stadium, or local LA fans just stay home. Dean Spanos\u00a0cannot afford an uninspiring, 3-14 product because an empty stadium hits their bottom line infinitely harder than it would a team that owns its venue.<\/p>\n Then, what are they waiting for? It\u2019s much more than just the little-brother dynamic in action when it comes to Chargers coaching change.<\/p>\n Harbaugh, McDaniel, and QB Justin Herbert are all on the same page and have maintained that things are going to work out. Neither one of them has thrown the other under the bus.<\/p>\n So, it becomes tough to point fingers. Add the fact that Harbaugh still has some grace period the Chargers have to spare, since he is coming off an 11-win season.<\/p>\n The five-year, $80 million deal he signed with the Chargers makes it even trickier for Spanos to fire him this early. Not when they might be looking at a possible $16 million per-year number.<\/p>\n Chargers Have a Sacrificial Lamb Named Mike McDaniel<\/p>\n \n \u201cHarbaugh is coming off back-to-back 11-win seasons, which typically fosters a grace period to manage the low points. That might be the case here. But if the Chargers can\u2019t turn things around and are looking at a 3-14 finish, then what?\u201d<\/p>\n Then, Spanos would be forced to take the financial hit and save his franchise. It\u2019s still not that late, though, if the Chargers finally decide to make some serious offensive changes, or fire McDaniel altogether.<\/p>\n Harbaugh has the immunity. McDaniel doesn\u2019t. The Chargers\u2019 defense is holding up its end of the bargain, but McDaniel\u2019s unit cannot buy a third-down conversion or a second-half touchdown, and it just makes the case to fire the OC stronger.<\/p>\n Harbaugh\u2019s recent admission that Los Angeles is \u201clooking into everything\u201d unofficially signaled thatMcDaniel is standing on the trapdoor.<\/p>\n Firing his offensive coordinator is the only move Harbaugh has left to buy himself time with Dean Spanos and protect a $262 million investment in Justin Herbert<\/a>. McDaniel is serving as the ultimate sacrificial lamb, but if the offense remains broken after the bye, ownership won\u2019t hesitate to turn the crosshairs directly on Harbaugh.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tPankti Parmar<\/a> Pankti Parmar is a Heavy Contributor. Specializing in college football and the NFL, her reporting work includes extensive coverage for The Sporting News, FanSided’s Ole Hotty Toddy, Fly War Eagle, and Glory Colorado, Notre Dame On SI, Roundtable Sports, Pro Football and Sports Network, and more. More about Pankti Parmar<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 20: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Los Angeles Chargers looks on during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1034035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,7,1014,262,2444,2443,6],"class_list":["post-1034034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-chargers","tag-chargers","tag-football","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleschargers","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117484597272004875","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1034035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"jim](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2296489495.jpg\")
GettyLos Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh.\n<\/p>\n![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2291358204-e1792381981514.jpg\")
GettyChargers OC Mike McDaniel\n<\/p>\n