4 dark horse candidates to replace Brandon Staley as Chargers head coach
By Jason Reed
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Matt LaFleur could be a dark horse Chargers head coach candidate
Matt LaFleur has not been named by any fans as a potential head coach candidate for next season as he is still employed by the Green Bay Packers. It is hard to point at the head coach of another team and say that he is going to be the guy who replaces the current head coach in LA.
But the writing is on the wall for LaFleur to get booted from Green Bay at some point. The Packers have been very underwhelming thus far and Jordan Love has not looked great in recent weeks. Love is a hand-picked guy from the front office so the blame is naturally going to be placed on LaFleur.
It would not be surprising at all if LaFleur and the Packers "mutually agree to part ways" in the offseason so that the front office can hire someone who it thinks can get more out of Love. That would make LaFleur a hot coaching candidate and he likely would not take a demotion to offensive coordinator.
I understand why Chargers fans might be hesitant to hire someone who was just let go from another team but the Chargers may think differently. After swinging and missing on three straight first-time head coaches, the Chargers may instead want someone with experience who isn't learning on the job in year one.
LaFleur is part of the McVay/Shanahan coaching tree and has done some really innovative things to the Packers offense. We all saw what he did with Aaron Rodgers, just imagine what he could potentially do with Justin Herbert.
LaFleur is one of two dark horse candidates who has previous head coaching experience. The other is someone who Chargers fans may not be excited about.