Mike McDaniel is ‘fired up’ to be Chargers OC

El Segundo, CA – After a no win and out postseason for the second straight year, the Los Angeles Chargers have shaken things up in their coaching tree. Greg Roman is out as the team’s offensive coordinator. 

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is now the guy who is expected to inject new life into the Chargers offense. 

“I think that there are a lot of tools in place,” McDaniel said.

The Chargers played with middle of the road ambitions in 2025, finishing 18th in passing and 12th in total yards. Yet in still, the Chargers won 11 games and made the playoffs for the second straight season under head coach Jim Harbaugh. That was not good enough in the postseason. 

For the second consecutive season under the Harbaugh regime, the Chargers went into the playoffs and did not record a win. Quarterback Justin Herbert, who is coming off his sixth season as a pro, still hasn’t won a playoff game. 

The Chargers are expecting that dynamic to change under McDaniel. A 16-3 Wild Card playoff loss to AFC champion New England Patriots spelled the end of Roman’s tenure. Shortly after their premature exit from the postseason, the Chargers let go of Roman and their offensive line coach. 

The showing against New England by quarterback Herbert and the Chargers offense was brutal. The results were not too kind for Herbert. 

In that game, Herbert completed 19 of 31 passes for 159 yards. He was sacked six times and his rating as a quarterback was 74.5. In other words, it was a disastrous outing by Herbert, who threw four interceptions in a 32-12 loss to the Houston Texans in a Wild Card playoff game just a year before. 

McDaniel was hired by the Chargers to help fix these offensive woes. Whether or not that comes to fruition has yet to be seen. 

With Harbaugh sitting in and listening, McDaniel was introduced by the Chargers to local media as the new offensive coordinator during a press conference at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo, California, on Jan. 28. 

“I’m fired up to be here. The family is fired up to be here,” McDaniel said. 

McDaniel spent the last four seasons as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. He guided the Dolphins to playoff appearances during his first two seasons. 

gonna be something special pic.twitter.com/fz0oipNElq

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 27, 2026

The two last years running the Miami franchise proved to be a challenge for McDaniel as the Dolphins stumbled to 8-9 (2024) and 7-10 (2025) records. 

McDaniel is highly regarded as the man who turned Tua Tagovailoa from a quarterback project to an elite-level NFL passer. Tagovailoa validated that claim when he led the league in passing in 2023 when he threw for 4,624 yards.

Miami led the NFL in total yards that season, averaging 401 yards per game. Shortly after being introduced to local press, McDaniel shared his thoughts about what made the offensive coordinator position with the Chargers an attractive employment gig for him.

“There’s a lot that I found very attractive,” McDaniel said. “To be honest, I was very fortunate to have some opportunities, but I think it started with Coach Harbaugh, you know, then to be a part of an organization that has a legacy…talking about Sid [Gilman] and Air Coryell, that’s super attractive, too. Got a quarterback who I’ve always admired, and just a lot of young players…a great situation for me and my family to go to the next chapter, which we’re very excited about.”

 McDaniel’s main objective is to take Herbert’s game to the next level, something he was able to do with Tagovailoa. Herbert ended the 2025 regular season as the ninth-best passer in the NFL, throwing for 3,727 yards and 26 touchdowns. 

He also threw 13 interceptions and was sacked 54 times during the regular season. 

“I think that you have a competitive player that each and every year is trying to get better at his craft,” McDaniel remarked. “I think he hasn’t neared the ceiling to what he’s capable of. He can make every throw, but as a competitor, you can tell he enjoys what the National Football League and franchise quarterback…he enjoys all the burden that is the responsibility of touching the ball every play.” 

With McDaniel now serving as the official quarterback whisperer,  he expects Herbert and the Chargers offense to take off to greater heights.

“There’s a lot that we can be capable of here with him leading the charge,” McDaniel said. “I’m extremely excited for that opportunity.”