The LA Chargers have come a long way when it comes to the team's coaching. After a decade of more failure than success under Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn, and Brandon Staley, the Chargers now have one of the best head coaches in the sport in Jim Harbaugh.
It is impossible to complain about the Chargers' coaching situation after what the fanbase has had to endure over the last decade. That does not mean Harbaugh and his staff are perfect, though, as even Harbaugh has a rare slip-up from time to time.
One of Harbaugh's biggest slip ups in his first year back to the NFL was who he hired to be the team's offensive coordinator. In a move that fans loathed at the time, Harbaugh hired former San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman. While there were some positives that came from Roman's offense, the overall results on offense were disappointing in 2024.
To make matters worse, the offensive coordinator Roman replaced just went on to win a Super Bowl in dominating fashion and is now a head coach in the league. Going from Kellen Moore to Roman may have been the biggest (and only) coaching blunder for Harbaugh in year one.
Kellen Moore's ascension to head coach has Chargers fans thinking what could have been
The Chargers had the chance to keep Moore around under the new coaching regime. Harbaugh did that with special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken. The team could have blocked Moore from interviewing for other offensive coordinator positions.
However, Harbaugh had his guy who he had prior ties to and that was that. Roman was brought in while Moore quickly took the offensive coordinator job with the Eagles just four days after Harbaugh was hired by the Bolts.
Moore's exceptional season with the Eagles was a reminder of just how great he can be as a play-caller. The former Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator was lauded by Chargers fans when he was hired prior to the 2023 season. Then, because of things out of his control, Moore's value dipped when it really shouldn't have.
The Chargers' offense was humming when it was at full strength in 2023. The real turning point of the year was when the Bolts lost Corey Linsley and Mike Williams to unpredictable injuries for the rest of the season.
Add in the fact Justin Herbert played with a broken finger on his left hand, before breaking a finger on his right hand, and of course, the offensive numbers were going to suffer. The Chargers lost their starting center, their WR2 and had to play with a compromised quarterback (not to mention a bad head coach).
There is an alternate world in which the Chargers stayed healthy in 2023 and went on a deep playoff run despite Brandon Staley's coaching. All the early signs were there for the Chargers to be a top-tier offense in the NFL in 2023 (just go back and watch the Minnesota Vikings game from that season).
In a perfect world, Harbaugh would have seen that nuance and would have given Moore one more year to give his star quarterback some play-calling consistency. Moore would not have solved the personnel issues on the interior offensive line or at wide receiver, but he definitely could have squeezed more out of the Chargers' offense than Roman did.
Instead, Harbaugh hired his guy while Moore's team scored 95 combined points in the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl. The Chargers may not have been the Eagles with Moore, but they maybe could have actually won a playoff game.