EL SEGUNDO, Calif. \u2014 The Los Angeles Chargers are treating their search for a offensive coordinator as a chance to renovate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a build, it\u2019s a process. You\u2019re always evolving,\u201d general manager Joe Hortiz said Thursday. \u201cReally, it\u2019s like a house, you know. You got a nice house, you got a nice structure, and that\u2019s what we have here, but we\u2019re going to keep renovating every room.”<\/p>\n
Coach Jim Harbaugh and Hortiz said the Chargers will consider a wide variety of candidates and are not married to a certain scheme or system to replace offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who was fired Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The same approach would apply should in-demand defensive coordinator Jesse Minter leave to fill one of the head coaching vacancies around the NFL.<\/p>\n
The willingness to change wasn\u2019t a given since Harbaugh had largely tied his coaching success to the kind of smash-mouth offense identified with his mentor at Michigan, Bo Schembechler. Roman had been Harbaugh\u2019s only offensive coordinator in two NFL head coaching stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Chargers until the dire showing in a 16-3 AFC wild-card playoff loss to the New England Patriots prompted a change.<\/p>\n
Roman was able to help the Chargers finish 11-6 and reach the postseason for the second straight year despite losing both starting offensive tackles to injuries. But quarterback Justin Herbert was sacked six times and hit 11 times by the Patriots after being hit plenty throughout the regular season, and the Chargers finished with just 207 total yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NFL is unforgiving, it\u2019s unfair, it\u2019s hard,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cThat\u2019s the nature of the business. But what we feel like is a direction that\u2019s going to make us better, then we\u2019re always striving for that, whether that\u2019s with players, coaches, myself included. It\u2019s a results-oriented business.\u201d<\/p>\n
The need to maximize Herbert\u2019s ability and get a breakthrough playoff win will be driving factors in the search for a replacement, though the quarterback will not be involved in the process. Harbaugh, Hortiz and assistant general manager Chad Alexander are conducting interviews.<\/p>\n
Herbert is 0-3 in the playoffs, including blowing a 27-point lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars after the 2022 season, throwing four interceptions against the Houston Texans after the 2024 season, and failing to help the offense score a touchdown on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Harbaugh and Hortiz both expressed confidence Herbert can break through as long as the right supporting pieces and structure are in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustin\u2019s talent, Justin\u2019s ability, you know, I have no questions about that. Winner all the way,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cIt\u2019s our responsibility to get up to his level, and we’re continually striving to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harbaugh did say whichever person replaces Roman would have significant autonomy, frequently referring to his desire to find \u201ca head coach of the offense,\u201d as long as that person can get the most out of Herbert.<\/p>\n
There is no timeline to make a hire, though the looming possibility of Minter\u2019s exit could add to the urgency.<\/p>\n
In two seasons under Minter, the Chargers defense has twice finished in the top nine in points allowed, giving up a league-low 17.7 points per game in 2024. They ranked fifth in total yards allowed (285.2) and passing yards allowed (179.9), and eighth in rushing yards allowed (105.4) this past season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really not so much a question of \u2018if.\u2019 We\u2019ve known that. It\u2019s a question of \u2018when,\u2019 the product that Jesse has established as the head coach of the defense, that\u2019s so good that we know it\u2019s a matter of \u2018when.\u2019 So (we\u2019re) prepared for that,\u201d Harbaugh said.<\/p>\n
In addition to offensive coordinator and offensive line coach openings, as assistant Mike Devlin was also fired on Tuesday, linebackers coach NaVorro Bowman is leaving the Chargers to spend more time with his son, who is a touted high school basketball recruit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL SEGUNDO, Calif. \u2014 The Los Angeles Chargers are treating their search for a offensive coordinator as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,7,1014,262,2444,2443,6,252,2309],"class_list":{"0":"post-681627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-chargers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","12":"tag-losangeles","13":"tag-losangeleschargers","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","16":"tag-wires-bot"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115904568696649271","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681627","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=681627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}