The Los Angeles Chargers are in about as bad a position as a team could find itself in the NFL. After entering the year with postseason hopes at the very least, the Chargers have responded by losing each of their first six games, and there is very little hope that they will be able to get on the right track anytime soon.
Many folks are to blame for this stunning fall from grace, with one guy being offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. Despite only getting hired over the offseason, rumors are swirling around McDaniel suggesting that Los Angeles is plotting a move to fire him, which would force the team to find a new offensive coordinator. And yet, while McDaniel could get fired, one insider issued an eye-opening update on the team’s plan for replacing him.
Insider Issues Update on Chargers Plan at Offensive Coordinator
It’s rather stunning just how quickly things have changed for McDaniel since he arrived in L.A. While his stint as the Miami Dolphins head coach didn’t exactly end on a high note, the Chargers received praise over the offseason for deciding to pair up McDaniel with quarterback Justin Herbert.
And yet, to this point, the results simply have not materialized. Herbert looks like a shell of himself under center, with McDaniel’s offensive scheme getting picked up by virtually nobody on the team. That has put him firmly on the hot seat, even though he was just hired a couple of months ago.
Things can change quickly in the NFL, especially when a team is playing as poorly as the Chargers are. With the team on its bye week, changes could be coming, as NFL insider Jason La Canfora of casino.org reported that head coach Jim Harbaugh could wind up calling the offense moving forward, even if McDaniel sticks around. And if the former Dolphins head coach does get fired, it sounds like his replacement would come from within the organization.
“Multiple NFL executives in the last few weeks have mentioned to me that they believe Harbaugh at the very least would take over play calling duties coming out of the Chargers’ bye week, or he would reassign them internally,” La Canfora reported. “The same executives also said that with the team winless, the odds of ownership hiring someone with a substantial salary from outside the organization seem very unlikely.”
Should the Chargers Fire Mike McDaniel?
Sometimes, coaches just don’t pan out in the NFL, and while it would be a tough pill for Los Angeles to swallow to have to move on from McDaniel so soon after hiring him, it seems almost inevitable at this point. If he does get fired, pass game coordinator Adam Gase would be the likely replacement for him, so the team essentially already has its plan in place.
And yet, it has refused to pull the trigger to this point, despite the fact that this team simply cannot get in the win column. The bye week has come at a good time, but even when L.A. returns to action, it will have a difficult matchup against its crosstown rival, the Los Angeles Rams, on its hands. If the Chargers were to lose that game, it wouldn’t necessarily come as a major surprise if it ended up being McDaniel’s final match with the team.
Insider Drops Truth Bomb on Chargers Mike McDaniel Firing Rumors