Top Chargers head coach candidates not named Jim Harbaugh, ranked

3. Mike Macdonald

If the Chargers are not able to hire a Harbaugh this offseason then they might as well try and hire someone who has worked closely with both of the Harbaugh brothers. Mike Macdonald has coached under both Jim and John Harbaugh and could bring that same ethos to the locker room at a much cheaper price.

Macdonald was first hired by the Baltimore Ravens in 2014 and spent time on the coaching staff until 2021, when he then took a job with the Michigan Wolverines to be the linebackers coach. After one year with Jim, Macdonald made the jump back to coach with John and become the defensive coordinator in Baltimore.

Macdonald has put together two strong seasons as the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator and knows what it takes to put together a winning system. If he was hired by the Chargers he would be tasked with fixing Brandon Staley's defense and theoretically, the Chargers could keep Moore in the building in a similar way as with Dan Quinn.

It has not been reported if the Chargers are requesting an interview with Macdonald yet but there is time for that to happen. As of now, the team has requested to interview Todd Monken, who is not as good of a candidate as Macdonald.

There may be some concerns as a first-time head coach, especially of the defensive variety after what happened with Staley. Macdonald has a lot more experience in the league than Staley did, and more importantly, knows the Harbaugh way.