List of Los Angeles Chargers head coaches
The
History
This section may be too long and excessively detailed. (April 2020) |
Sid Gillman coached the Los Angeles and San Diego Chargers to five Western Division titles and one league championship in the first six years of the league's existence.
His greatest coaching success came after he was persuaded by Barron Hilton, then the Chargers' majority owner, to become the head coach of the American Football League franchise he planned to operate in Los Angeles. When the team's general manager, Frank Leahy, became ill during the Chargers' founding season, Gillman took on additional responsibilities as general manager.
As the first coach of the Chargers, Gillman gave the team a personality that matched his own. Gillman's concepts formed the foundation of the so-called "West Coast offense" that pro football teams are still using.[1][2] He coached the Los Angeles and San Diego Chargers to five Western Division titles and one league championship in the first six years of the league's existence.
He played
Don Coryell coached the
Al Saunders was the coach for the Chargers from 1986 to 1988 and became a citizen of the United States in 1960, one of the four foreign-born coaches in the NFL. In college played Defensive back and Wide receiver for the Spartans of San Jose State University (SJSU) from 1966 to 1968 where he was a three-year starter, team captain, and an Academic All-American.
In the 1970s, Al Saunders joined the coaching staff at
The
There have only been four coaches to lead the team into the playoffs.[6] Bobby Ross holds the best record percentage wise in the playoffs. Norv Turner holds the best regular season coaching record, with 0.640, followed by Hall of Famer Sid Gillman with 0.608. Ron Waller holds the worst regular season record, winning just one out of the six games he coached.
Key
# | Number of coaches |
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Losses |
T | Ties |
Win% | Winning percentage |
† | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach |
‡ | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player |
* | Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Chargers |
Coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023 NFL season.
# | Image | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | Reference | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | |||||||||||
Los Angeles Chargers | ||||||||||||||||||
1 | Sid Gillman† | 1960 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 1 | 0 | 1 | [7] | |||||||
San Diego Chargers | ||||||||||||||||||
– | Sid Gillman† | 1961–1969, 1971 | 131 | 76 | 49 | 6 | .603 | 4 | 1 | 3 | [7] | |||||||
2 | Charlie Waller* | 1969–1970* | 19 | 9 | 7 | 3 | .553 | – | – | – | [8] | |||||||
3 | Harland Svare | 1971 –1973 | 26 | 7 | 17 | 2 | .308 | – | – | – | [9] | |||||||
4 | Ron Waller* | 1973* | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 | – | – | – | [10] | |||||||
5 | Tommy Prothro | 1974–1978 | 60 | 21 | 39 | 0 | .350 | – | – | – | [11] | |||||||
6 | Don Coryell† | 1978–1986 | 125 | 69 | 56 | 0 | .552 | 7 | 3 | 4 | [12] | |||||||
7 | Al Saunders* | 1986–1988* | 39 | 17 | 22 | 0 | .436 | – | – | – | [13] | |||||||
8 | Dan Henning | 1989–1991 | 48 | 16 | 32 | 0 | .333 | – | – | – | [14] | |||||||
9 | Bobby Ross | 1992–1996 | 80 | 47 | 33 | 0 | .588 | 6 | 3 | 3 | Pro Football Weekly NFL Coach of the Year (1992)Maxwell Football Club NFL Coach of the Year (1992)UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1992)
|
[15] | ||||||
10 | Kevin Gilbride* | 1997–1998* | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | .273 | – | – | – | [16] | |||||||
11 | June Jones | 1998 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | – | – | – | [17] | |||||||
12 | Mike Riley* | 1999–2001* | 48 | 14 | 34 | 0 | .292 | – | – | – | [18] | |||||||
13 | Marty Schottenheimer | 2002–2006 | 80 | 47 | 33 | 0 | .588 | 2 | 0 | 2 | [19] | |||||||
14 | Norv Turner | 2007–2012 | 96 | 56 | 40 | 0 | .583 | 6 | 3 | 3 | [20] | |||||||
15 | Mike McCoy* | 2013–2016 | 64 | 27 | 37 | 0 | .422 | 2 | 1 | 1 | [21] | |||||||
Los Angeles Chargers | ||||||||||||||||||
16 | Anthony Lynn | 2017–2020 | 64 | 33 | 31 | 0 | .516 | 2 | 1 | 1 | [22] | |||||||
17 | Brandon Staley* | 2021–2023 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 0 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 1 | [23][24] | |||||||
18 | Giff Smith* | 2023 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | – | – | – | [25] | |||||||
19 | Jim Harbaugh | 2024–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | [26] [27] |
References
- ^ "Gillman helped engineer West Coast offense". Associated Press. 2003-01-07. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ^ Zimmerman, Paul (1999-10-29). "The real West Coast offense". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ^ Peterson, Bill (2006-08-16). "Cincinnati's Connection to Football's "West Coast Offense"". City Beat. Archived from the original on 2007-01-28. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ^ 1999 SportsIllustrated.com article. Retrieved 20 May 2005.
- ^ a b "Chargers head coach Schottenheimer fired". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
- ^ "Coaches". San Diego Chargers. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
- ^ a b "Sid Gillman". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Charlie Waller". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-19. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Harland Svare". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Ron Waller". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-16. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Tommy Prothro". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Don Coryell". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Al Saunders". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Dan Henning". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Bobby Ross". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Kevin Gilbride". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "June Jones". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Mike Riley". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-19. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Marty Schottenheimer". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Norv Turner". databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Mike McCoy Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
- ^ "Anthony Lynn Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- ^ "Brandon Staley Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ "Insight into new Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley..." www.chargers.com. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ "Chargers name Giff Smith interim HC, JoJo Wooden interim G.M." NBC Sports. 2023-12-15. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
- ^ "Los Angeles Chargers Name Jim Harbaugh as Head Coach". chargers.com. January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ "Jim Harbaugh Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 25, 2024.