Why Mike McDaniel chose Chargers over pursuing Bills interview hinted in update

The Los Angeles Chargers, after lengthy speculation, have finally announced the hiring of their new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. The official announcement has brought relief and excitement to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles opened their off-season by dismissing offensive coordinator Greg Roman and offensive line coach Mike Devlin. The move was prompted by the Chargers dismal offensive showing in the wildcard round of the playoffs where they managed only three points.

The Chargers interviewed a wide breadth of candidates but the biggest name that shocked a lot of media members and fans was former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. The general consensus and perception was that Mike McDaniel and Jim Harbaugh are too different from each other to consider the pairing a realistic outcome.

Following the announcement of multiple candidate interviews, news finally leaked out that the Chargers were looking to interview McDaniel for their offensive coordinator opening.

The #Chargers will join the (long) list of teams set to interview former #Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel for their vacant OC job, sources say, which will likely happen early next week.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 17, 2026

The interview was scheduled for Tuesday, January 20th. Sports Illustrated senior NFL reporter Albert Breer provided updates regarding Mike McDaniel and his candidacy for multiple roles around the NFL and he expected McDaniel to accept an offensive coordinator position.

"On the eve of the Chargers hosting Mike McDaniel, Breer lends his opinion and says that if he had to guess, McDaniel ends up as an offensive coordinator within the next week."

Jesse Minter, Mike McDaniel and other big Chargers coaching updates https://t.co/eFKup1iYcK
— Thomas Martinez (@BoltsDraftTalk) January 19, 2026

The day of the interview, social media exploded with speculation. Photos of McDaniel, Jim Harbaugh and Chargers President of football operations John Spanos were making rounds on social media after they were spotted on the patio of the Westdrift hotel in Manhattan Beach, just minutes away from the Chargers training facility.

Speculation grew to a fever pitch when the team had not announced a conclusion to the interview or had even publicly acknowledged it. Finally news broke the anticipation tension when it was reported that McDaniel was cancelling his interview with the Cleveland Browns for their head coach position.

Former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel informed the Browns he’s withdrawing from their head coaching search ahead of a scheduled in-person interview Wednesday, per sources.

McDaniel — who is still a candidate for the Ravens and Raiders HC vacancies — is interviewing for the… pic.twitter.com/qirkrsvbWX
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 20, 2026

The interview seemingly concluded with McDaniel spending the entire day with the team. It was reported that evening by The Athletic reporters Dianna Russini and Daniel Popper that the Chargers were expecting to hire hire McDaniel and had begun to inform other candidates.

The Raiders, Ravens, Bills add to speculation

The language surrounding the expected hire of McDaniel always left room for speculation. The agreement to become the offensive coordinator for the Chargers was contingent on not landing a head coaching job. McDaniel had interviewed with the Ravens and Raiders but was considered on the outside looking in at a realistic chance to land either role.

When the Ravens hired Jesse Minter to be their new head coach, the pool narrowed to the Raiders for McDaniel. Then the Buffalo Bills came calling. The Bills scheduled an interview with McDaniel for their head coaching vacancy which sent fans into a frenzy as speculation mounted.

The Bills are interviewing new Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel for their head coaching job today, per source. McDaniel, of course, spent the last four years in the AFC East as Dolphins head coach.

McDaniel will be Jim Harbaugh’s OC if he doesn’t land an HC job.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 23, 2026

The situation seemed to calm shortly after as it was announced that McDaniel had actually cancelled his interview with the Bills. The cancellation left questions still hanging in the balance. Has there been a snag in negotiations with the Chargers? Was Mike McDaniel really holding out for the Raiders?

Albert Breer reported shortly before the official announcement of McDaniel being hired by the Chargers, that McDaniel "may have felt a little uneasy about interviewing for the Bills’ job so soon after taking the Chargers’ OC job."

There is no grand conspiracy, it appears McDaniel chose to show loyalty to the team whom he had just agreed to coach for and respectfully backed away from the Buffalo Bills head coach search.

real ones knew pic.twitter.com/ZbEdUq4xTh
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 26, 2026

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