Mike McDaniel Makes Surprising Bills Decision That Impacts Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers continue to wait and see whether Mike McDaniel will be Justin Herbert’s next offensive coordinator.

Saturday morning, though, provided a small stunner on McDaniel’s status with the Buffalo Bills.

According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, McDaniel canceled his planned interview with the Bills for their head-coaching job.

Russini noted that McDaniel “is still expected to become the Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator if he is not hired for any of the league’s five remaining head-coaching vacancies.”

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo added that McDaniel could still meet with the Bills in the future, but that he doesn't have anything on the schedule with them right now.

As of this writing, McDaniel’s only other serious brush with a head-coaching job has been with the Las Vegas Raiders. He previously canceled a meeting with the Cleveland Browns after getting to Los Angeles and meeting with Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers.

Mike McDaniel nixed a second interview, this time with the #Bills after withdrawing from the #Browns’ search. Could conceivably still meet with Buffalo but nothing on the schedule as of now. https://t.co/2saJVqZsXz
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 24, 2026

News first broke of McDaniel's visit with the Bills on Friday, creating a tough outlook for the Chargers. He's reportedly committed to be the Chargers' coordinator, to the point Los Angeles shut down the interview process and informed other candidates that they were moving forward with him.

But the Bills job opened up late in the process after Buffalo's messy playoff exit. And mess aside, getting a chance to coach Josh Allen while immediately jumping back into a head coach role was surely tempting for McDaniel.

Those Bills flew to Florida for their next wave of interviews. But they seemed locked in on names like Anthony Lynn and Anthony Weaver. Chargers legend Philip Rivers also surprisingly got an interview.

Barring something unexpected, the Chargers still figure to land McDaniel as coordinator for at least one season before he checks the job market again.

Instead, the Chargers will continue to focus on the defensive coordinator search after Jesse Minter left to become head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. That coaching search has turned up names like Aubrey Pleasant and Zach Orr so far.

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