The Los Angeles Chargers were always incredibly likely to fire head coach Brandon Staley at the end of the 2023 NFL season, but the club’s shocking 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night necessitated immediate action. LA announced Tuesday morning that it had cut ties with Staley and general manager Tom Telesco.
Staley looked like the poster child for the league’s incoming wave of younger, progressive head coaches when he took over the Chargers’ roster in 2021. Los Angeles made the playoffs in Staley’s second year at the helm, only to cough up a historic lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card round.
This season, the Chargers have rarely looked like postseason contenders. Justin Herbert’s season-ending finger surgery and last night’s defeat were merely icing on the cake of the end of Staley’s tenure.
With Staley out, the LA can immediately begin its search for a new head coach. Who are the favorites to take over for Staley as the Chargers’ HC?
Who Will Replace Brandon Staley as Chargers HC?
Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson
The Chargers seem likely to target an offensive-minded coach during this cycle, not simply for the sake of change since Staley was previously a defensive coordinator, but because they need to maximize Herbert’s tantalizing potential.
Lions OC Ben Johnson is already the hottest name of the 2024 head coaching circuit, so Los Angeles will have competition for his services, especially because the crop of offensive candidates isn’t exactly overflowing with promising talent.
Will Johnson want to take over the Chargers? Playing in a division that features Patrick Mahomes isn’t ideal, Los Angeles never offers a home-field advantage, the club’s roster is aging, and its future salary cap outlook is poor in the near term.
But he’d get to coach Herbert, and that might be enough for Johnson to don powder blue this offseason. Add that he’d get to move to Los Angeles, and the Chargers start to become a pretty attractive landing spot for next year’s top head coaching candidate.
Philadelphia Eagles OC Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson is in his first year as the Eagles’ offensive play-caller, but he’s been on the head coaching track for several seasons. Previously working as Philadelphia’s quarterbacks coach, Johnson helped turn Jalen Hurts into the perennial MVP candidate he is today.
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While the Eagles’ offense hasn’t been quite as efficient as it was in 2022, teams will want to hire from the club’s coaching talent base — just as they did last offseason, when OC Shane Steichen (Indianapolis Colts) and DC Jonathan Gannon (Arizona Cardinals) landed top jobs.
Miami Dolphins OC Frank Smith
The coach with the most boring name in the NFL is helping craft one of the league’s most exciting offenses. Frank Smith doesn’t call plays for the Dolphins, but that shouldn’t stop him from receiving interest from around the NFL following two years of assisting Mike McDaniel. Remember, McDaniel didn’t call plays for the 49ers before he became a head coach, either.
Tua Tagovailoa is an excellent quarterback, but Herbert is far more physically talented. The idea of dropping Herbert into an offensive scheme that looks anything like what Miami has deployed over the past two years is beyond tantalizing.
Houston Texans OC Bobby Slowik
There are plenty of reasons not to hire Bobby Slowik. He’s 36 years old. He’s in his first year as an offensive play-caller. He’s never even been a position coach!
But none of that will matter because Slowik has gotten results with C.J. Stroud and a host of other young players in his Texans debut. Given the lack of intriguing offensive candidates, Slowik will absolutely be on head-coaching shortlists, especially given that he spent six years working under Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers.
Baltimore Ravens DC Mike Macdonald
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has already cultivated a lengthy NFL coaching tree, with former staffers like Chuck Pagano, Rex Ryan, David Culley, and Mike Pettine all finding top jobs around the league.
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Current Baltimore defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald could be the next name added to that list. Macdonald — with the Ravens from 2014-2018 before spending a season as the University of Michigan’s DC — returned to Baltimore last season and has turned the club’s defense into an elite unit.
The Ravens are leading the NFL in yards allowed per play, rank second in points allowed per game and EPA per play, and boast the most sacks in the league (49) despite not rostering a star pass rusher. The 36-year-old Macdonald will be a hot commodity on the 2024 head coaching circuit.
Dallas Cowboys DC Dan Quinn
Although Dan Quinn met with the Denver Broncos, Colts, and Cardinals last offseason, he eventually decided to take his name out of head coaching searches and stay with the Cowboys. But Quinn will be involved in next year’s HC process, presuming he wants to leave his cushy DC role in Dallas.
It’s been another year of dominance for Quinn’s defense. Even with injuries to CB Trevon Diggs and LB Leighton Vander Esch, the Cowboys rank third in defensive efficiency and fourth in points allowed per game.
Los Angeles Rams DC Raheem Morris
Raheem Morris has done it all in the football world. He became one of the youngest head coaches in NFL history when he took over the Buccaneers at 32. He coached on the offensive side of the ball as the Falcons’ passing game coordinator from 2015-19 and spent five seasons at the collegiate level.
You might not be able to name a Rams defensive player aside from Aaron Donald, but Los Angeles ranks in the middle third of most defensive performance metrics. That’s beyond impressive for a defensive roster that’s almost entirely anonymous, and the Chargers should take notice.
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