Mike McDaniel will not be bolting on the Chargers for a vacant head coaching gig after all.
Los Angeles announced on Monday the former Dolphins head coach has officially signed on to be Jim Harbaugh’s new offensive coordinator.
The 42-year-old X’s and O’s expert had initially agreed to be the Chargers’ OC on Jan. 20, but there appeared to be a chance he could renege on the deal should a head coaching offer crop up elsewhere.
McDaniel had flirted with the Bills and had also formally interviewed with the Raiders.
But in a series of Instagram posts on Monday morning, the Chargers confirmed he’s staying in Hollywood.
In the Chargers’ first IG announcement, the team shared a video of McDaniel sitting down at a table in Chargers gear getting ready to play some kind of question-and-answer game.
“Sup,” McDaniel could be heard saying in the clip. “Mike McDaniel, offensive coordinator for the Chargers.”
In two ensuing posts, the Chargers shared some memes of the coach, and on one, they wrote in a caption, “mike drop.”
McDaniel got his start in the NFL as an intern for the Broncos in 2005, and following years of stops on staffs in Houston, Washington, Cleveland and Atlanta, he eventually earned the title of offensive coordinator with the 49ers in 2021.
He led San Francisco’s offense to seventh in yards and 13th in points, and was named the Dolphins’ head coach the following season.
McDaniel then manned Miami’s sidelines until this offseason, when he was fired after accumulating a 35-33 record.
McDaniel takes over the OC reigns from Greg Roman, who was let go by the Chargers following a disastrous playoff loss to the Patriots.
Just prior to Roman’s firing, Harbaugh vowed to look at “everything” when it came to diagnosing why his team had yet another early postseason exit.
McDaniel will now take over a star-studded offense that’s headed by quarterback Justin Herbert, running back Omarion Hampton and star tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt.
Under Roman, the Chargers failed to find consistency despite finishing 11-6 and securing the No. 7 seed in the AFC Playoffs. They finished 20th in scoring at 21.6 points per game, but struggled towards the end of the year, scoring just 16 points or more once in their final games.
Los Angeles was then held without a touchdown in their 16-3 loss to the Patriots in the AFC Wild Card Round, prompting the firing of Roman and the search for a new OC.
The main appeal of having a job with the Chargers is the opportunity to work with Herbert. Widely considered one of the better quarterbacks in the league, Herbert is 0-3 in the postseason despite possession incredible natural traits.
For Herbert, having a new OC is nothing new.
Since being drafted by the Chargers in 2020, McDaniel will be his fifth offensive coordinator in what will be his seventh NFL season.
