Christian McCaffrey’s Brother Apparently Headed to Chargers for Key Role

The Los Angeles Chargers and head coach Jim Harbaugh continue to turn over every possible stone while filling out the revamped coaching staff before free agency and the draft.

First, it was firing offensive coordinator Greg Roman and scoring a big win by bringing on former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. Then, it was losing defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to the Baltimore Ravens’ head-coaching job, only to bring back Chris O’Leary in that spot.

Quietly, Harbaugh has apparently moved to hire another former head coach to add to McDaniel’s staff, too, albeit with a semi-controversial name.

And now? The Chargers have also moved toward the brother of a superstar player to join McDaniel’s staff, too.

Chargers hire Christian McCaffrey’s brother for coaching role?

It turns out that a former McDaniel understudy with a big name could be on the way to the Chargers.

According to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, the Chargers have targeted Dolphins offensive assistant Max McCaffrey for a spot on their coaching staff. It’s currently projected as the running backs coach role.

Max is the older brother of San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and Washington Commanders wideout Luke McCaffrey.

A former Duke wideout who went undrafted in 2016, Max appeared in six regular-season games across two different teams while bouncing around the NFL until 2020, where he started his coaching career at Northern Colorado. He made the jump to the Dolphins as an offensive assistant in 2023.

McCaffrey was a standout wide receiver at Duke and then played three seasons in the NFL.

Worked under new Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel in Miami the last three seasons. Before that, was an offensive coordinator at the college level at Northern Colorado.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 7, 2026

Max would certainly be walking into a coveted coaching spot with this type of promotion. Working under an offensive mind like McDaniel is one thing. Getting to oversee a running back spot in a Justin Herbert-led attack with first-rounder Omarion Hampton in the lead role is another.

The Chargers and McDaniel were always expected to reach back into his coaching tree to fill out his offensive staff as he attempts to breathe new life into a stale attack that asks too much of Herbert.

This, it seems, would be one logical piece of the puzzle for the Chargers.

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