Many fans and pundits alike believed that the LA Chargers were heading to a coaching change after an 0-2 start to the season. The Bolts were coming off of a historically bad blown playoff loss and if the team struggled to get out of the gate, there was no guarantee that Brandon Staley would last an entire season.
Staley and the Chargers won two games in a row to head into the bye week with a 2-2 record. His job is safe for now but most of the fanbase still wants to see the team go in a different direction after the 2023 season. After all, it is hard to defend a defensive-minded head coach when his defense is one of the worst in the sport.
Fans have started a wish list of potential head coaches in the case that this is Staley's last season, with notable names like Jim Harbaugh leading the way. After Week 5's slate of games, there is a new polarizing figure that has entered the Chargers head coach conversation: Bill Belichick.
You can thank Bill Simmons for this one.
On Thursday’s pod, I predicted to @PSchrags that this Patriots season would keep getting worse and cause Bill Belichick to leave for another franchise this winter - either Washington or the Chargers.https://t.co/9nnL22vO3Q
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) October 8, 2023
Simmons outlined his perceived timeline that would get Belichick to Los Angeles on his podcast. The Patriots would decide to move on from the Hall of Famer after the season, with Simmons predicting that Jerod Mayo would be the next head coach. Belichick would then perceivably sign a multi-year contract with the Chargers (similar to how Vince Lombardi coached Washington after the Green Bay Packers).
Despite Bill Simmons' convictions, Bill Belichick will never coach the Chargers
On paper, it makes all the sense in the world. The Chargers are a Super Bowl-hungry franchise in desperate need of stability with an elite quarterback under center. If there was ever a team for Belichick to jump ship to after the Pats, it is the Chargers.
Additionally, if Staley gets the can after the 2023 season then general manager Tom Telesco would likely go with him. GMs don't usually get to hire their fourth head coach. This would open the door for Belichick to have a similar role in LA that he has had in New England.
While all that seems great, it never will come to fruition. There is no feasible chance that Belichick will coach the Chargers, so he might have to start eyeballing Washington if he indeed is going to leave the Pats.
First and foremost, the Chargers have never splurged on a head coach under Dean Spanos. The team still didn't hire Sean Payton after the Chargers blew a 27-point lead in the playoffs. And this was after months of speculation and Payton openly making it obvious that he wanted to coach the Chargers.
Belichick has more legacy behind his name than Payton but he is also at a different point in his life and career. Belichick will be 72 years old at the start of the 2024 season. The Patriots have been a poorly-coached team for two years now. At this point in time, Belichick is nothing more than a name. Hitching the future of the franchise to that wagon is just as bad, if not worse, than just keeping Staley in town.
Of course, this is all assuming that the Patriots would even have the gall to move on from Belichick and that he would even want to coach another team. That is the hurdle that would have to be cleared and even that seems very unlikely.