Los Angeles Chargers Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Chargers Hire Anthony Lynn As Head Coach

January 13th, 2017 at 8:15am CST by Sam Robinson

In less than a week, the Chargers have a new city and a new head coach. ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the franchise has hired former Bills coach Anthony Lynn. It will be a four-year contract for the new head coach. Lynn entered his Thursday interview as the clear frontrunner for the gig, and reports last night indicated that the organization was finalizing a deal.

The Bills promoted Lynn twice this season, elevating him from running backs coach to OC in September and made him their interim head coach in December. Lynn was viewed as the frontrunner to be the next Bills’ full-time HC earlier during the hiring period, but the organization agreed to a deal with Sean McDermott. Lynn was the only candidate connected to all six teams with vacancies this offseason.

This deal completes a rapid ascent for the 48-year-old Lynn, who served as running backs coach for five different franchises from 2003-16. But the Bills became one of the best ground attacks in football under his guidance this season, and Lynn is in line to have a chance to enhance the Chargers’ offense.

Lynn will consider keeping OC Ken Whisenhunt on offense, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets, and former Jaguars coach Gus Bradley is a prime candidate to become the Bolts’ next DC. Bradley has already interviewed to become the Redskins’ DC but has been connected to Lynn throughout this process. A Lynn-Bradley ticket was previously thought to be the way the Bills would go, but that pairing could be set to work together in Los Angeles.

It’s been quite the eventful 24 hours in a city that had few of those regarding the NFL for around two decades. The Rams named Redskins OC Sean McVay as their next HC — and youngest in NFL history — while the Chargers formally announced they are planning to relocate to L.A. And they’ll now have a coach to help steer that transition, one that wasn’t certain as the franchise interviewed five other candidates to succeed Mike McCoy.

Buccaneers Extend DC Mike Smith

January 12th, 2017 at 6:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chargers’ coaching search will no longer include Mike Smith, who signed an extension to remain the Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Smith also withdrew his name from the Chargers’ HC search earlier today, per Schefter (via Twitter).

Smith will now coach a second season with the Bucs, who hired the former Falcons coach to replace Leslie Frazier last year. The newly branded Los Angeles Chargers will continue to go through their options after Smith, Vance Joseph and Sean McDermott removed their names from consideration due to respective job offers elsewhere.

Anthony Lynn remains a strong candidate for the Bolts’ HC gig, with the former Bills interim head coach entering his interview today as the frontrunner to become the relocating franchise’s next sideline leader, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Lynn remains at his Chargers interview, Tom Pelissero of USA Today tweets. The Chargers have interviewed six coaches for their HC vacancy, with Lynn being the only one to do so after news of the team’s relocation to Los Angeles became public.

Smith interviewed for the Chargers’ job last week, becoming the first candidate to do so. The 57-year-old coach also interviewed for the Jaguars’ HC job. His initial Tampa Bay defense ranked 23rd, with the unit falling off its top-10 perch from 2015. Frazier’s defense slotted 10th in 2015.

Lynn Would Keep Whisenhunt If Hired By L.A.

January 12th, 2017 at 1:50pm CST by Zachary Links

Things are heating up between the Chargers and Anthony Lynn. Lynn could be the man to replace Mike McCoy as head coach and if that’s the case, he’ll keep offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Chargers brass likes the idea of keeping Whisenhunt on the staff and that is a plus in Lynn’s quest to become head coach, Rapoport adds.

Whisenhunt, who is in the midst of his second stint as the Bolts’ play-caller, boasts seven-plus years of head coaching experience with the Cardinals and Titans. He was not given consideration for the head coaching vacancy, but the team has been intent on keeping him as OC regardless of the hire.

Quarterback Philip Rivers works well with Whisenhunt and he has been an advocate of continuity at a time when the Chargers are undergoing major changes. In 2017, he’ll be playing for the fourth head coach of his professional career in a brand new market. Amidst all the chaos, Rivers is hoping to have his plays called by the same OC as last year.

Chargers Officially Announce L.A. Move

January 12th, 2017 at 11:05am CST by Zachary Links

On Thursday morning, the Chargers confirmed that they will be moving from San Diego to Los Angeles.

“San Diego has been our home for 56 years. It will always be part of our identity and, my family and I have nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the support and passion our fans have shared with us over the years,” team chairman Dean Spanos said in a written statement. “But, today we turn the page and begin an exciting new era as the Los Angeles Chargers. L.A. is a remarkable place, and while we played our first season there in 1960 and have had fans there ever since, our entire organization knows that we have a tremendous amount of work to do. We must earn the respect and support of LA football fans. We must get back to winning. And, we must make a meaningful contribution, not just on the field, but off the field as a leader and champion for the community. The Chargers are determined to fight for LA and we are excited to get started.”

Today’s announcement concludes a lengthy saga for San Diego fans who hoped that, somehow, their team would get a brand new stadium to keep up with the rest of the league. Ultimately, the team and local leadership could not agree on the amount of public funding to be contributed to a new venue.

For now, the Chargers will play their home games at the 30,000 seat StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. The team will reportedly spend the 2017 and 2018 seasons there before joining the Rams in Inglewood.

Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Chargers, via Twitter.

Chargers, Rams Meet With Anthony Lynn Again

January 12th, 2017 at 7:49am CST by Zachary Links

The Bills’ head coaching job is no longer an option for Anthony Lynn, but he still has an opportunity to land on his feet in this coaching cycle. Both the Chargers and Rams plan to bring Lynn in for a second interview, sources tell ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson (Twitter link).

Lynn is the only coach who was tied to all six coaching vacancies this offseason, but only three jobs remain after the Bills, Broncos, and Jaguars made their hires. It’s not immediately clear if the Niners are bringing Lynn back for a second interview, but the Rams and Chargers have advanced interest in him.

On Wednesday, the Rams gave a second interview to Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay and he is rumored to be the team’s leading candidate at this time. However, the Rams are conducting a thorough coaching search and they will not wrap thing up without further exploring other options, including ones that could get the most out of their defense. In total, twelve candidates have interviewed for the position.

Meanwhile, Lynn is now the first coach to have a second interview scheduled with the Chargers. Patriots DC Matt Patricia, Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub, Lions DC Teryl Austin, and Bucs DC Mike Smith are also said to be in the mix. McDermott and Vance Joseph are out of the running after accepting head coaching jobs elsewhere on Wednesday.

Chargers To Relocate To Los Angeles

January 11th, 2017 at 8:59pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Chargers will have a new home in 2017: The franchise could announce as early as Thursday that it’s moving from San Diego to Los Angeles, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). In doing so, the Chargers will end their 55-year run in San Diego and join the Stan Kroenke-led Rams, who departed St. Louis for LA last winter.

The Chargers and Rams agreed in principle to a deal last January to share a stadium in Inglewood, which is currently under construction and set to open in 2019. Chargers owner Dean Spanos could have headed to LA then, but he instead kept the franchise in San Diego for 2016 in hopes of working out a new stadium deal there.

Spanos was unable to make anything happen in San Diego, however, as the money the city, the county, the Chargers and the league had combined to commit still fell $175MM short of what a Qualcomm Stadium replacement would have cost. Spanos had until Jan. 17 to strike a deal in San Diego and avoid relocation, but he is abandoning that possibility less than a week before the deadline.

It’s unclear where the Chargers will play the next couple seasons as they wait for the Inglewood facility to open. They could share the Los Angeles Coliseum with the Rams and USC Trojans, though the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., has also come up as a potential stopgap. However, that stadium is only capable of holding 27,000 people. The Chargers called the Coliseum home in 1960, their inaugural season, before relocating to San Diego the next year. That partnership worked out for five and a half decades, but now the Chargers are headed back to where they began.

With the Bolts’ future now known, all eyes will turn to the Raiders, who could also go elsewhere – Las Vegas – by next season. The Raiders were an outside possibility for LA, but that’s now officially off the table. The franchise has until Feb. 15 to file for Vegas relocation, and the league’s 31 other owners could vote on its fate sometime in March.

Latest On Chargers’, Raiders’ Relocation

January 11th, 2017 at 6:31pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Chargers had been facing a Jan. 15 deadline to decide whether to join the Rams in Los Angeles by next season, but the NFL pushed that date back Wednesday, per the Associated Press. The Bolts now have until Jan. 17 to choose their fate, and the league is still holding out hope that they’ll remain in San Diego, a source told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. However, the league won’t prevent owner Dean Spanos from relocating the team if he’s unable to find a stadium solution in San Diego, another source informed Acee.

“No one is going to tell Dean he can’t go,” said the source. “They’re going to tell him he shouldn’t go.”

Spanos doesn’t seem eager to leave San Diego, but he also hasn’t made enough progress toward a new facility that would replace the 50-year-old Qualcomm Stadium. As of last week, the Chargers were of the belief that a $100MM to $175MM gap existed between the funds the city, county, league and team were willing to put forth and what a new stadium would actually cost. That remains the case, per Acee, who now lists the figure at exactly $175MM.

The Chargers would welcome more financial aid from the league, but its owners – especially the Rams’ Stan Kroenke – haven’t shown any urgency to make that happen, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). With that in mind, the Chargers are operating as if they’re about to relocate, Acee reports. The franchise has already drafted a press release and planned a news conference, though Acee adds that it did the same a year ago before delaying its LA decision.

The league’s stadium and finance committees met Wednesday to discuss the futures of the Chargers and Raiders, but the latter club was the primary focus.

“There was little to no discussion on the topic of the Chargers,” league executive Eric Grubman revealed.

The Raiders have until Feb. 15 to file for relocation to Las Vegas, where businessman Sheldon Adelson could contribute $650MM to a $1.9 billion stadium. The two sides continue making progress after some previous hiccups in negotiations, tweets Cole, but the Raiders aren’t going to be content to let their Vegas dreams slip away if Adelson backs out.

“The Raiders are looking at the potential of doing [it] without Mr. Adelson if it comes down to that,” said Steelers owner Art Rooney II, who’s also chairman of the league’s stadium committee.

There’s no word on exactly how the Raiders would raise $650MM in Adelson’s absence. The team is set to put forth $500MM toward the cause, while Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and state Legislature previously signed off on contributing a record $750MM in public funds.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/10/17

January 10th, 2017 at 5:54pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

Reserve/Futures Contracts

Miami Dolphins

LB Lamin Barrow
CB Daniel Davie
T Jesse Davis
QB Brandon Doughty
RB Storm Johnson
LB Deon Lacey
DE Arthur Miley
TE Chris Pantale
RB Senorise Perry
TE Terry Poole
DE Julius Warmsley
LB Brandon Watts

San Diego Chargers

QB Mike Bercovici

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

FB Quayvon Hicks

Practice Squad

Dallas Cowboys

Signed: DE Lenny Jones
Cut: DT Shelby Harris

Chargers, 49ers, Rams To Interview Vance Joseph

January 10th, 2017 at 5:32pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Broncos have completed their head coaching interview with Vance Joseph, and the Dolphins defensive coordinator will now continue his busy schedule with three more meetings this week. Joseph will interview with the Chargers, 49ers, and Rams over the course of the next three days, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Joseph, 44, is among the hottest head coaching candidates of this year’s hiring cycle, as five of the six clubs — all but the Jaguars — have requested permission to interview the Miami DC. Joseph will have one interview per day during the next three days, but no date has yet been set for a meeting between Joseph and the Bills, the remaining team that has expressed interest.

Thought to be the favorite for the Denver job after Gary Kubiak announced he was stepping away from the NFL, Joseph has apparently completed his interview without being offered the head coaching position, as general manager John Elway tweeted a message signalling the meeting had come to a close. At last check, however, Joseph was still in the Broncos facility, per Mike Klis of 9NEWS (Twitter link).

Joseph interviewed for Denver’s vacant head coaching position during the 2015 offseason when he was still the Bengals’ defensive backs coach. Though the Broncos ultimately hired Kubiak, the club maintained strong interest in bringing Joseph in as defensive coordinator, but Cincinnati blocked the move. Since that time, Joseph has moved on to Miami, where he’s helped improve the team’s defense from a No. 25 DVOA rank in 2015 to No. 17 this year.

Bucs DC Mike Smith Still In Running For Chargers HC Gig

January 9th, 2017 at 8:25pm CST by Ben Levine

Mike Smith was thought to be a close second for the Jaguars job, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports tweets. The former Falcons head coach served as the Buccaneers defensive coordinator this past season. In seven seasons in Atlanta, Smith led his squad to a 66-46 record and four playoff births. Roy Cummings of FloridaFootballInsiders.com writes that Smith is still in the running for the Chargers‘ head coaching gig.

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Los Angeles Chargers News & Rumors

Reserve/Futures Contracts

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