The Los Angeles Chargers, who now sit with a record at 0-5 with just one matchup remaining before their Week 7 bye, have some serious reflecting to do before the schedule ramps back up.
The Mike McDaniel experiment has fallen irrevocably flat. Of course, the injuries to the offensive line and the receiving corps haven't helped—but this offense has failed to gain any momentum whatsoever even when it's been hole. McDaniel's anticipation-dependent air attack hasn't clicked with Justin Herbert, and the unit as a whole has been full of mistakes and miscues that, now, have not only cost them games but have effectively cost them their season.
Moving on from McDaniel at the bye should be a real option Los Angeles is considering, at least in a vacuum. Those on the outside certainly are.
NFL Inside Ian Rapoport floated the idea on Wednesday that passing game specialist Adam Gase could be in line to replace McDaniel on an interim basis if the Chargers decide to make that move. Given that there's not much left to lose this season, it wouldn't necessarily be a disastrous move.
From The Insiders on @nflnetwork: A look at where it stands for the #Chargers during a frustrating start to the season. pic.twitter.com/g3qqPibZvM
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 14, 2026
But Gase didn't come to Los Angeles with a necessarily spotless résumé, and the organization's options for replacing McDaniel in season highlight the conundrum the rest of 2026 presents them with. Can they truly do anything other than ride out the campaign with this current scheme?
Chargers have an OC replacement in Adam Gase—but would things look much better?
It's certainly not unreasonable to believe there's no hope for this offense under McDaniel. After all, this unit hasn't shown much, if anything, in the way of viability to this point in the season, and Herbert seems to be struggling under the weight of a team that's collapsing around him.
Theoretically, moving onto Gase mid-season is a viable option. He helmed the Denver Broncos' offense for much of the Peyton Manning era, and he, at the very least, knows how to design a scheme that leans on the talents of its quarterback.
But his résumé outside of that situation doesn't inspire much optimism. In three seasons as the Miami Dolphins head coach, his offenses finished 26th, 18th, and 30th in total passing yards. The end of his time there was marked by uncreative playcalling and a stagnant offense. He then took over the New York Jets in 2020, where he led an offense headlined by Sam Darnold to the second-worst record in the NFL. Neither of those situations were particularly stocked with talent, but Gase hasn't had a coaching, or even a coordinating, opportunity since that time.
He was brought to Los Angeles simply as an additional mind on the offensive side of the ball—and it's only his previous experience as a play-caller that makes him even remotely suitable to take over this offense if the Chargers decide to go that direction.
If Los Angeles truly believes that McDaniel's scheme is actively ruining the development of their quarterback, perhaps an early firing may be their only move. But this roster—down to nuts and bolts—has largely been built specifically for McDaniel. That's why pieces like Charlie Kolar, Keaton Mitchell, Alec Ingold, Cole Strange, and Brenen Thompson are on the roster in the first place.
Even if McDaniel's offense never finds its footing over the remainder of the season, what advantage do the Chargers truly gain by allowing Gase to take this unit over? They have no real way to reset this roster until the offseason, and the organization has already sold itself fully to the idea of a West Coast-style offense in 2026.
Perhaps Gase's hybrid offense could help salvage some level of optimism before 2026 comes to an end. But in all likelihood, it feels like we'll be watching McDaniel try to make things work in Los Angeles at least until the end of this season.
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