There were going to be changes after what happened last Saturday in Jacksonville. Keeping a staff intact after blowing a 27-0 lead in the playoffs would be difficult.
The Chargers announced Tuesday morning that they had fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and quarterback’s coach/passing game coordinator Shane Day.
This decision means that head coach Brandon Staley will stay as the head coach, but changes will come to his coaching staff.
“We believe in Coach Staley and the front office 100%,” quarterback Justin Herbert said. “Everyone would be lucky to have a coach like Staley. He has been an incredible leader. He has the respect of everyone on our team.”
The players who spoke on Sunday were very adamant that they wanted to keep Staley as their head coach. They believe in his vision and wanted the Spanos family to show patience with their head coach.
“That’s my guy,” safety Derwin James said. “I feel like he’s put a lot into it, and a lot of the guys believe him and like him. I definitely believe in him, and we are going to get it right.”
It is easy to see why the Chargers have chosen to fire part of the offensive staff. The second half of games was trouble for the offense, and adjustments didn’t seem to work. There was a ten-week stretch where the offense didn’t score a touchdown.
It showed in Jacksonville. The offense got off to a fast start, but when it came to the second half, they couldn’t make the necessary adjustments to move the ball consistently or run the football enough to kill some time off the clock.
The fact that you have a quarterback like Herbert and can’t score a touchdown in the third quarter for ten weeks is alarming.
Offensive production in the NFL matters, so Staley knows they need to kick it up to get maximum production from an offense that wasn’t terrible statistically, but it needs a spark.
It lacks speed. It lacks creativity.
Having a quarterback like Herbert means they could do damage to the opposing defense. They need an offensive coordinator to come in and build their offense around the players, specifically the quarterback’s skill set.
Injuries were also a factor during the season. Herbert dealt with the rib injury since week three while receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams missed numerous games, and left tackle Rashawn Slater only played in three games due to a bicep injury.
Those injuries hurt a lot of the production offense should have had, especially in big games like against the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. They also had trouble getting into the end zone only converting 54.6% of their trips in the red zone into touchdowns, according to teamrankings.
The Chargers are now on the search for Herbert’s third offensive coordinator in four seasons in the NFL. One apparent choice could be looking into their past, like Frank Reich. He was on the Chargers’ offensive staff from 2013-2015. He was their offensive coordinator for two seasons.
He won a Super Bowl as an offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017. Around the league, he is known as a quarterback guru because of the production he has had with quarterbacks in the NFL and also, having played the position in the NFL for 13 seasons helps.
Reich is a veteran coach who has been to the mountaintop before and could bring a lot of veteran wisdom to the coaching staff while also being able to help Herbert grow as a quarterback. He interviewed for the Carolina Panthers head coaching job, but if he doesn’t receive a job offer, working with Herbert can’t be a bad consolation prize.
Staley could also turn to a familiar face, as he has done with most of his coaching roster and bring in Thomas Brown from the Rams. He is their tight ends/assistant head coach. They coached together in 2020 when Staley was the defensive coordinator.
It also helps that Brown is a former running backs coach, an area where the Chargers need significant help. They were at the bottom of the NFL rankings in running the football, so there need to be some changes in that area because the team needs to use running back Austin Ekeler for what he does best, which as of right now is scoring, not as an every down back.
Staley will now do his homework and search for the best fit to work with his fourth-year quarterback. Also, who can take this offense to new heights and be what it is meant to be, which is a top scoring offense.
“We are close, and I am not just saying that,” James said.
