With a lot of coaching turnover in recent years there is a long list of former Chargers coaches who are scattered across the NFL. From failed head coaches to once-promising coordinators who may now get a head coaching job, there are plenty of familiar faces in the league for Chargers fans.
That list was added to this week as the Carolina Panthers are hiring former Chargers defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill to the team's coaching staff.
Hill's position with the Panthers has not been announced as he will coach under defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.
Panthers hire former Chargers defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill
Hill spent two seasons with the Chargers as the team's defensive coordinator under Brandon Staley. In Hill's two seasons with the Chargers, the defense ranked 29th and 21st in points allowed per game.
To be fair to Hill, he was not the defensive play-caller as that honor went to Staley. Most of the Chargers' defensive struggles in those years was because of the team's head coach, not because of the defensive coordinator. The Chargers continue to struggle on defense in 2023 after Hill left the team.
Hill departed Los Angeles to join Vic Fangio's defensive staff on the Miami Dolphins. Hill, like Staley, came up under Fangio and followed him to Miami when he got the job. Despite being one of the best defensive coordinators in the league, Fangio lasted only one year with the Dolphins before taking a lateral move to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fangio did not bring Hill with him to the Eagles and as a result, the former Chargers defensive coordinator has a gap year on his coaching resume. The Panthers are the first team to take a chance on Hill since his Miami departure.
Evero and Hill do have connective tissue, which is likely what led to Hill being hired in the first place. Evero coached under Staley in his lone season with the Los Angeles Rams. That Staley connection may be the reason Hill got the Carolina job in the first place.