The LA Chargers made the most popular hire in franchise history two weeks ago by hiring Jim Harbaugh as the team's next head coach. With Harbaugh leading the way, it is not unreasonable to think that a Super Bowl could be in the cards in the not-so-distant future.
The rest of the 2024 Chargers are starting to take shape around Harbaugh. It took less than a week to pair Harbaugh with the team's next GM, Joe Hortiz, who is coming over after two decades with the Baltimore Ravens.
The coaching staff is starting to take shape as well. It started with prominent strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert and has extended to other areas of the staff. First, it was Jesse Minter, who will reportedly follow Harbaugh from Michigan to the Chargers. Then, some of the offensive roles started to take shape.
Greg Roman and Marcus Brady will both reportedly be hired for positions on the offensive coaching staff, although the offensive coordinator has not been confirmed. Through all of this, the Chargers reportedly made the biggest no-brainer move possible and made sure to keep a popular fan favorite on the staff in 2024: Ryan Ficken.
#Chargers also hiring #Ravens assistant Mike Devlin as offensive line coach, former #Ravens #49ers #Bills offensive coordinator Greg Roman, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and retained special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken, per sources @KPRC2
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) February 5, 2024
Chargers keeping Ryan Ficken on the staff is a dream for fans
Ryan Ficken joined the Chargers coaching staff in 2022 and was tasked with turning around the special teams side of the ball for a franchise that notoriously trotted out the worst special teams units in the sport.
Ficken not only turned that side of the ball around but made it one of the best special teams units in the entire NFL. Both specialists are great in Cameron Dicker and JK Scott while the unit around those two has been as good as it gets. The Chargers have won at least two games in the last two years solely because of special teams.
As good of a job as Ficken has done, it was not always a guarantee that he would return to the Chargers' staff. Early reports were that Harbaugh would bring his son Jay with him to coach special teams. Jay still appears to be joining the staff, but it does not appear that he will be the special teams coordinator.
Of course, nothing is official as of yet and fans should continue to monitor the situation. But this is still a great sign and at this rate, it would be shocking if Ficken was not retained on next year's staff. Harbaugh is a very good coach, and he knows another great coach when he sees one.
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