3 members of the Chargers coaching staff who could be unmitigated disasters

Mike Devlin, offensive line

All of the concerning coaches on the Chargers staff are on the offensive side of the ball, which might not be the best sign. Perhaps they all gel together and having Justin Herbert as their quarterback will elevate them as coaches. After all, there are still some promising coaches such as Marcus Brady, Shane Day and Sanjay Lal on the coaching staff.

But then there are also coaches like Mike Devlin, who once again got the job with the Chargers because of his ties to Harbaugh. Devlin is coming over after being an assistant offensive line coach with the Baltimore Ravens. On paper, that makes a lot of sense with what Roman is going to want to do offensively.

That being said, Devlin's track record as an offensive line coach is woeful. Sure, there are some standout Pro Bowlers that will be top-billed, but Devlin did not develop offensive linemen in an effective way in his previous stops.

Devlin was the offensive line coach for the Houston Texans from 2015 through the 2020 season. In those six seasons, the Texans ranked (in reverse chronological order) 30th, 30th, 32nd, 31st, 11th, and 16th in sacks allowed. They started as a mid-tier offensive line when Devlin got there, and were among the three worst in the league in his final four seasons.

In 2013 and 2014 he was the offensive line coach of the New York Jets. In those seasons the Jets ranked 26th and 24th in sacks allowed. Wherever Devlin has gone as the offensive line coach, sacks have followed.

When protecting Justin Herbert is your No. 1 priority, it is really concerning that your offensive line coach has such a bad history of actually coaching offensive lines.