Chargers Rumors: Urban Meyer has expressed interest in coaching Bolts

As Chargers rumors swirl surrounding the future of the head coaching position, a new challenger has entered the ring.

Earlier this morning, Chip Brown of 247Sports broke a story that the University of Texas was moving on from their head coach Tom Herman. This has been a move that has been rumored for weeks for the University, and apparently, they have their eyes set on Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

The Longhorns notably pursued former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer at the end of their regular season. Meyer is obviously one of the best college football coaches of all time and has been mentioned with basically every high profile coaching opening in the sport since he retired.

He turned Texas down rather quickly, which opened the window for Herman to coach their bowl game. In the end, Texas decided to move on from Herman anyway.

Earlier this week there was a report by ESPN that said Meyer has been heavily considering a return to the coaching world, and the NFL reportedly has his full attention. That story also reported that two teams have already reached out to Meyer to gauge his interest in moving to the NFL.

After that report broke, many members of the media connected Meyer to the looming vacancy with the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s a move that would make sense, given his ties to the area from his days coaching the Florida Gators.

The plethora of draft picks and cap space currently in the Jaguars’ possession, along with the chance to draft Trevor Lawrence make it one of the most attractive jobs in recent memory.

In his report on the firing of Herman, Brown confirmed Meyer’s interest in the Jaguars job, and also connected his name to a different team: the Los Angeles Chargers.

“Meyer has been looking into possible NFL opportunities, because there is more of an off-season and no transfer portal in the NFL. Jacksonville and the Los Angeles Chargers are jobs Meyer has expressed interest in.”

These Chargers rumors are nothing but good news for the Bolts. His interest sends a very clear and significant message: if they do decide to move on from Anthony Lynn, they have a headlining head coaching vacancy.

There is still a very long way until Meyer would fully commit to coaching again. Most importantly, Meyer would have to decide if his health concerns would allow him to be fully committed to coaching an NFL franchise.

He has had several stress-related struggles caused by a cyst on his brain. Those concerns led to his initial retirement at Florida and then caused his second retirement from Ohio State several years later.

There is still a general stigma that college coaches cannot succeed in the NFL, but the game has changed. A lot of NFL teams are running college-style offenses, and succeeding with them.

Meyer has a strong reputation for building winning cultures and developing his players at a high level. The chance to pair Justin Herbert with one of the best offensive minds of our generation should be extremely tempting. He would be an excellent hire for any NFL team.

A hiring of Meyer would instantly make the Chargers the talk of the town, and generate a ton of buzz and excitement for the team’s immediate future. Financial decisions should never drive coaching decisions, but the Spanos family has to know just how much Meyer would move the needle for this franchise.

That would be as much of a slam dunk as humanly possible for this team. Season ticket sales would go through the roof, and the Chargers would become one of the most sought after teams for national prime time games.

If Meyer is able to clear the medical hurdles, there is no downside for the Chargers. Just like Herbert is creating buzz for the potential head coaching vacancy, a Meyer hiring would generate significant movement in the coaching world. The chance to work under him, and coach a premier talent like Herbert would bring quality assistant coaches flocking to the Chargers door.

As I said before, hiring a head coach needs to be about fit above all else. And only Tom Telesco and the Spanos family can decide that. From my perspective, this would be a no-brainer.