LA Chargers: Comparing Anthony Lynn to the coaches before him

DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 30: Head coach Mike McCoy of the San Diego Chargers makes notes during the second quarter of a game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on October 30, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 30: Head coach Mike McCoy of the San Diego Chargers makes notes during the second quarter of a game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on October 30, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) – LA Chargers
(Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) – LA Chargers /

The LA Chargers have officially parted ways with Anthony Lynn.

The LA Chargers will not be coached by Anthony Lynn next season, which is for the best moving forward. While Lynn was a fantastic player’s coach and motivator, his in-game decisions held the Chargers back from being a winning team over the last two seasons.

Lynn is widely respected and will land a job elsewhere this season but it is time for the Chargers to move on from the Lynn era. Many Charger fans have been left with a bad taste in their mouth after these four seasons.

However, in comparison, Lynn is not that bad compared to the Charger coaches that came directly before him. Anthony Lynn being the best of the bunch is not great but is still is interesting to compare his tenure with the two coaches before him now that it is officially over.

Anthony Lynn’s tenure with the Chargers

  • Record: 33-31
  • Winning seasons: 2
  • Playoff appearances: 1
  • Playoff wins: 1

Anthony Lynn ends his tenure with the team with a winning record, however, that is not indicative of Lynn’s decision-making ability. The fact of the matter is that Lynn was outright bad the last two seasons and with a talented roster in both years a combined 12-20 record is nothing short of disappointing.

However, Lynn did have the best season of the entire decade in 2018. Philip Rivers had his best season of the second half of his career and it all came together for the Bolts. They actually won close games and even defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Playoffs.

It was downhill from there and that was truly where Lynn peaked. Philip Rivers deserved some of the blame in 2019 but with Justin Herbert in 2020, it was clear that the main problem was Lynn.

To be fair to Lynn, though, the last two seasons could have been much different with some better luck. Melvin Gordon‘s fumble, Casey Hayward‘s pass interference and Michael Badgley‘s missed game-winner are three examples of losses that were not really in Lynn’s control at the end.

However, he had too many games that were terribly mismanaged to overlook. The ceiling was higher for Lynn, but the floor was much more frequent.