‘Twas the week after firing Brandon Staley, and all through L.A.
Chargers fans were giddy thinking of coaches Dean Spanos could pay
Yes, the inevitable finally happened- the Los Angeles Chargers fired Brandon Staley off the heels of a 63-21 dismantling in Las Vegas.
All that can be said about Staley has been said. he was a supposed defensive genius whose defenses got progressively worse even with a nice litany of players at his disposal, and his in-game decision making was often incoherent as it was inconsistent.
The question now is who will be under the headset in 2024 for the Chargers? For obvious reasons, Chargers fans have started to get visions of Lions’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson dancing in their heads. His offensive schematics have helped turn Detroit into one of the most dynamic offenses in football, and Jared Goff has had a career renaissance over the past two seasons. One could only imagine the possibilities if he had someone as talented as Justin Herbert at his disposal.
Other trendy candidates include current Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.
In the midst of all the speculation and borderline certainty that this team is the place to be for head coaching candidates, we need to take a step back and see the much larger picture.
There is a very large elephant in the room that needs addressed. Outside of Justin Herbert, there isn’t much to love about the Chargers. And Chargers fans are standing way too close to that elephant to even realize its an elephant at all.
Yes, Herbert is obviously very alluring for someone like a Ben Johnson or a Bobby Slowik. He would very likely thrive in Johnson’s Frankenstein monster of an offense that combines a lot of west coast concepts, as well as a lot of influence from Adam Gase, whom he spent time with while he was in Miami. The same way he would likely thrive in a Shanahan-style offense with Bobby Slowik. Besides the possibility of having Herbert being very seducing, though, what is the Chargers’ sales pitch? I don’t think they have one.
Let’s look at their roster right now. Who is Herbert throwing to? Mike Williams, who is always hurt, and Keenan Allen, who is going to be 32 next season. Not to say they aren’t talented, but no one is racing to sign up for that. Outside of those two? Quentin Johnston has been a tumultuous disappointment, and they drafted him ahead of Zay Flowers and Jordan Addison-ouch. Jalen Guyton is going to be a free agent and isn’t a legitimate No. 3 receiver to begin with. Both Austin Ekeler and Josh Kelley are slated to be free agents, and I doubt they bring back Ekeler. Tight end Gerald Everett is also a free agent.
“Well, they can bring in new talent in free agency.”
Au contraire.
The Chargers are projected to have the third-lowest amount of cap space in the league next season. Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Keenan Allen, and Mike Williams all have cap hits north of $30 million. Mack will be 33. Bosa will be 29. Allen will be 32. Williams will be 30. 58 percent of their cap is tied up in those four players. Then 2025 comes and Justin Herbert’s extension kicks in. Plus, you still have to pay Rashawn Slater.
They have all these things to worry about in the not-so-distant future, while having to figure out how to fix the 29th ranked defense in the NFL- I don’t see a big race to that job taking place. Especially when you can go to a place like Washington, whose new ownership looks like they’ll be patient with a full rebuild and will have the most cap space in the NFL. New England will also be an alluring job for similar reasons, should it become available. They’ll have the third most cap space in the league and be able to start largely from scratch offensively.
This is also why I think it’s not the smartest move trying to pursue Bill Belichick. The roster will need somewhat of an overhaul, and he’s proven to be a really bad general manager over the last several seasons, especially when it comes to one of the Chargers’ biggest needs- receiver. Their best move would be to pursue a young offensive-minded coach and pair him with a GM that can build a winner around Justin Herbert.
With that said, I wouldn’t assume the top candidates will be trampling and tripping over one another trying to be the guy to get the job. Pursuing the Chargers because of Justin Herbert is like dating a beautiful woman who just got out of prison- There’s certainly some attraction, but there is a lot of baggage that comes with it. And for Ben Johnson, Bobby Slowik, and whomever else is pursued to be the next coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, they are going to have to decide if that baggage is worth the risk.
