Chargers News: Insider Projects Hiring Priorities For Brandon Staley Replacement

Your Los Angeles Chargers have a Justin Herbert problem.

After canning head coach Brandon Staley following this Thursday's 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, LA elevated assistant coach Giff Smith to the interim gig.

Long-term, the team will need to look for someone to maximize the club's offense, after the supposedly "defensive-minded" Staley boosted neither the offense nor the defense of the Bolts in his truncated three seasons, Sam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times opines.

...[Coming] off Staley, a defense-minded coach, the Chargers are likely to go offense," Farmer writes. "The window for Herbert & Co. is beginning to close, and Spanos is going to want someone who connects with the quarterback on every level."

"A coach who is going to get a lot of attention this offseason and will have multiple offers to consider is Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, with the Lions averaging 390 yards per game, third in the NFL."

Farmer also proposes Houston Texans OC Bobby Slowik, Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith, Washington Commanders coordinator (and ex-Chargers running back) Eric Bieniemy. Farmer notes that LA's own offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore, may earn consideration for the head coaching gig.

Eric Bieniemy, offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders, is a former Chargers running back who will be in Los Angeles for Sunday’s game against the Rams (although teams won’t be able to interview him until late January). Statistically, Washington’s offense is in the middle of the pack this season; the Commanders defense is the problem."

Farmer also pitches perhaps the most notorious coach in the college game, who did after all lead an NFL team to a Super Bowl berth.

"Few coaches drive fan interest as much as Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, who not only played for the Chargers but also began his illustrious coaching career at the University of San Diego, their old hometown," Farmer notes. "He has proved he can win, and almost immediately, but — were he on the open market — he’s a big and expensive personality who has worn out his welcome at places in the past."

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