The Los Angeles Chargers nearly have their coaching staff set for next season in spite of the departure of former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.
While Minter's hiring by the Baltimore Ravens represented a huge blow, the Chargers have added two dynamic new coordinators to their staff in Mike McDaniel and Chris O'Leary. Only time will tell, but it seems like they'll be alright in the long run.
From this point forward, it's best to simply hope that Minter finds success in Baltimore.
The talent is there on the roster for him, and the two coordinators he has hired so far, Anthony Weaver and Declan Doyle, are both brilliant minds on their respective sides of the ball. Yet Minter, as a defensive-minded head coach, will be placing a lot of trust in Doyle and the rest of his offensive staff.
Baltimore's decision to hire Joe Lombardi as a senior offensive assistant is therefore almost as worrying as it is deeply ironic.
Veteran NFL offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi will be joining Jesse Minter’s Ravens staff as a senior offensive assistant, per sources.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) February 3, 2026
Joe Lombardi will join the Ravens' staff, and Chargers fans are well familiar with the irony
Lombardi has been in the league a long time, working his way up the ranks before ultimately getting his first play-calling opportunity with the Detroit Lions in 2014. By the time he departed from Detroit, he was not well-regarded by that fanbase.
At the end of his two seasons with the Chargers, the result was eerily similar. Although Los Angeles finished fourth and ninth in total offense in his two seasons as offensive coordinator, his unimaginative and conservative scheme limited their ceiling as a playoff contender.
Even before head coach Brandon Staley was fired, the fanbase had soured considerably on Lombardi. Los Angeles parted with Lombardi after the 2022 season, opting to bring on Kellen Moore instead.
Lombardi then became the Denver Broncos' offensive coordinator, where he has been without play-calling duties since 2023 under Sean Payton. He certainly has experience, but Minter's addition of him to the Ravens' staff is highly ironic.
Hopefully Lombardi's role will be similar to the one he had in Denver, contributing to the game-plan and deferring to Doyle when it comes to the implementation of the offensive scheme. Doyle just finished his one-year tenure under Ben Johnson, but he worked under Lombardi as the tight ends coach for Denver in 2023 and 2024.
Perhaps Lombardi can bring a semblance of veteran leadership to a relatively young and untested coaching staff. But Chargers fans already know quite well what he can do when given the reins, and Minter must be wary of the irony latent in this situation.