CARSON, CA-The Los Angeles Chargers are moving about as fast as the moniker placed on the side of their helmets. In less than a month, the Chargers have dismissed former coach Mike McCoy, relocated their franchise into another city and announced the hiring of Anthony Lynn as their new coach.
And they made a date with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the city of Inglewood to kickoff the official schmoozing between the team and the shareholders of their permanent home. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First things are first. The Chargers put off relocating for a year. The team ownership wanted to give San Diego and its residents a chance to make something happen that would keep the organization in the city.
That didn’t happen. And just like the Chargers’ 2016 record of 5-11, the team wiped the slate clean of old baggage. First, came news about relocation. Then in a snap move, news about new coach Anthony Lynn came down the pipeline. And we still have two weeks to go in the month of January.
By executing these swift moves, the Chargers appear to be concise and thorough about their expectations as they roll into the crowded Los Angeles sports market. New market. New coach. New vision. It will be interesting to see how this plays out for the next couple of seasons for Lynn and the Chargers. But one thing is for sure; the Chargers are going to be around a long time.
The Chargers are already a playoff-ready team, so cornering the favorability market which they will share with the Los Angeles Rams, one year removed from relocating from St. Louis, may not take as long as some people may think. They have a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Philip Rivers. They have talented wide receivers busting from the seams, and they have a young stud at running back in Melvin Gordon.
The Chargers also have a viable enough defense to make some noise for the next few seasons in the postseason. Through unfortunate injuries or the failure to close out games, McCoy fell short in reaching those expectations. This is where Lynn comes in.
No doubt, taking on this gig, the first-time head coach will have hurdles to overcome and challenges to meet. But listening to his press conference, Lynn came off as an individual not afraid of the moment as he exhorted a tough, let’s go get them speech that could very well inspire the Chargers’ locker room.
Lynn spoke to reporters in his first official duty as head coach of the Chargers at the StubHub Center in Carson.
“We’re looking forward to showing you guys how fun it’s going to be watch this football team, and how this football team is going to be physical, how this football team is going to play disciplined , not turn the ball over and win football games, not lose football games,” Lynn said. “I can’t wait to start, but right now I’m focusing on getting this coaching staff together. I’m trying to put a coaching staff together that’s going to relate to our players, connect with our players.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
Discover more from News4usOnline
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.