Looking for a head coach, the Spanoses don’t hire rising assistants like Sean McVay, who may be too pushy. They don’t hire veterans like Andy Reid who’ve taken a team to a Super Bowl.
Dating to Alex Spanos assuming controlling ownership, many of the hires lacked the NFL chops to command an above-average salary or to bite into the club’s front-office power.
It’s a top-down approach that keeps the people in charge comfortable.
Often, however, the Chargers have needed to weather the head coach’s growing pains in a league where education is very expensive.
It helps greatly to have the NFL’s best luck at quarterback as the Chargers indisputably have enjoyed the past 19 years, never missing a start and landing top draft slots in QB-friendly drafts.
But what happens in most years is the Chargers frustrate themselves and their fans.
They play a good number of entertaining, close games. They flash excellence that raises Super Bowl hopes.
But the combination of head coaching that’s not top shelf, “Chargering” and uneven roster management proves too much to fully overcome.
Meantime, a star like Chargers safety Derwin James plays his guts out on a foot that has screws in it and on a surgical knee while his NFL career drips out, game by game, season by season. A durable, gritty receiver like Keenan Allen, who began his NFL career 10-plus years ago in San Diego, catches a zillion es yet still seeks his first AFC West crown and AFC title game.
The on-the-job training of Chargers third-year head coach Brandon Staley — and before him, kindred hires Anthony Lynn, Mike McCoy, Kevin Gilbride, Dan Henning and Al Saunders — doesn’t preclude the coach evolving into a standout although none have.
I’ve seen nothing from Staley to indicate he’s the defensive version of McVay, his former boss with the Rams.
Given his defenses’ faceplants, it’s fair to wonder what value Staley is bringing to the job.
His first of three defenses was abysmal, keeping Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert out of the playoffs despite the NFL giving fringe contenders like the Chargers — who’ve never won the West under President of Football Operations John Spanos and General Manager Tom Telesco — an extra wild card to pursue.
Staley’s second D was mediocre, at best. Injuries were a factor, although one often overstated by apologists.
And, now, two games into this season?
Staley’s D is the main reason the team’s 0-2.
It slapsticked the opener, a 36-34 loss to the Dolphins.
Sunday, its C- performance was primary to the 27-24 overtime defeat against a Titans offense that had three turnovers and no touchdowns in its opener, a 16-15 loss at New Orleans.
The Chargers forced no turnovers, gave up 5.4 yards per play and allowed the Titans to convert six of 13 third downs (46.2 percent) a week after Tennessee was 2-for-12 (16.7 percent). They gave up two long completions, each leading to a touchdown. In overtime they let the Titans drive 37 yards for the winning field goal.
Meantime, the offense has failed to win each game when it was there to be won.
The unit’s strong showing against Miami was marred by not turning the final possession into a winning field goal, going three and out due to failures against blitzes.
Sunday brought a failure to score a game-winning touchdown after driving to the red zone at regulation’s end and going three and out to begin overtime.
Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill and first-year coordinator Tim Kelly performed better in the clutch than the Chargers’ tandem of Herbert and much-praised coordinator Kellen Moore.
Don’t trot out the tired and often erroneous excuse about the Chargers being unlucky.
They’re 0-2 despite holding the health edge in both games. Even with Austin Ekeler sidelined, the Titans were in slightly worse shape, and the Dolphins lacked their best defender and top blocker.
Up next is a Week 3 contest at Minnesota, the Chargers likely to be a slight favorite for the third consecutive game.
Showing some McVay magic last year, Kevin O’Connell led the Vikings to the NFC North title as a rookie head coach. The alum of La Costa Canyon High School and San Diego State got the head-coaching job days after coordinating the Rams’ Super Bowl victory under McVay. The previous year, O’Connell and Staley were McVay’s coordinators.
There’s plenty of time for Staley’s Chargers to turn it around. And if Staley’s third season doesn’t produce a West title or a playoff victory? Lynn and McCoy, the other head coaches hired under the Spanoses and Telesco, got a fourth year.
