Chargers in danger of losing top coaching hire option after Falcons news

A top candidate for the Los Angeles Chargers might be going elsewhere.

Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers need to find a new offensive coordinator for Justin Herbert and have worked on some major names.

Think, Brian Daboll, Brian Callahan and fan favorite Mike McDaniel.

But the first wrinkle in the hiring process could be here: The Atlanta Falcons just hired Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Falcons making that move could completely wipe Callahan off the table as an option.

“As for staffing, there's a very good chance Stefanski keeps Jeff Ulbrich on as defensive coordinator,” Breer wrote. "And expect ex-Titans coach Brian Callahan to be in the running to be Stefanski's offensive coordinator.”

Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan — Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Chargers had already interviewed Callahan last week, showing early interest in the former Tennessee Titans head coach. No great shock there: Prior to his rough showing as a head coach, he was coordinator for an offense putting up big numbers with Joe Burrow in Cincinnati.

Losing out on Callahan wouldn’t be the end of the world for the Chargers. But it does create some pressure to speed things up.

The Chargers have an interview set up with McDaniel for early next week. But he’s meeting with the Las Vegas Raiders for their head-coaching job on Monday.

Should McDaniel stick with the Raiders and not even take his interview with the Chargers, Harbaugh and Co. are suddenly down to Daboll as the top option.

Otherwise, they’ve interviewed in-house candidates like quarterbacks coach Shane Day and passing game coordinator Marcus Brady.

There are other big names out there that the Chargers could look at for the role. And it’s an attractive one, given the presence of Herbert and weapons like running back Omarion Hampton, tight end Oronde Gadsden and wideouts Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston. The tackle duo of Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt is the NFL’s best, too.

But this quick-moving market is why the Chargers jumped in the deep end quickly. After so many years of failing Herbert, missing out on the top three preferred options and going to fallback plans wouldn’t be a good look, to say the least.

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