The Los Angeles Chargers know that there needs to be an improvement within the defensive line.
While the decisions the team made in free agency will be questioned up to and perhaps even beyond the draft, the team did add a coach that should bring some excitement to Chargers fans.
La’Roi Glover joined the team this week and will serve as an assistant defensive line coach, helping Giff Smith coach up the unit. It’s a lateral move for Glover, who served in the same role the past two seasons with the New York Jets. However, he does have some ties to the California area having been born in San Diego and attending San Diego State University.
Glover is not your ordinary coach. He has played the position and played it quite well.
A fifth-round pick in 1996, Glover played for four different teams but he became an impact player with the New Orleans Saints and then carried that over to the Dallas Cowboys.
For a defensive tackle, he was quite adept at getting to the quarterback. He led the league with 17.5 sacks in 2000, a rare feat for a defensive tackle. Only two defensive tackles have had more sacks in a season.
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That all helped him be named to the 2000s All-Decade Team and it makes him a great addition to the Chargers’ coaching staff. The acquisition of key players can’t be understated, but sometimes it’s a new coach that makes the biggest difference.
This seems to indicate that the Chargers will make a concerted effort to improve the defensive line as a whole this year. While Darius Philon, Corey Liuget and Damion Square were not re-signed, the team could grab a couple of defensive tackles in what is a deep draft class.
Will they take one in the first round?
That becomes a real possibility as the team has decided to add a new set of hands to the coaching staff, one who was one of the best defensive tackles of his era. Don’t sleep on this move by the Bolts as it’s one that could earn plenty of praise as the 2019 season goes on.