The Chargers made an uncharacteristically bold move on Friday morning when they fired head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco after a 63-21 loss to the Raiders on Thursday Night Football. Outside linebackers coach Giff Smith was named interim head coach for the final three games of the season but it's highly unlikely he'll be the permanent solution.
So, who will the Bolts look at as options for their next head coach? The sports betting experts in Las Vegas already have a board up and the betting favorite is the guy who owns more Super Bowl rings than anyone in history.
Rumors are swirling around New England that the Patriots will be firing Bill Belichick after a truly disastrous season, making him the favorite to take over the Chargers at 3-to-1 odds. The rest of the list looks like this and has more than a few interesting names on it:
Bill Belichick 3/1
Frank Smith 4/1
Kellen Moore 4/1
Ben Johnson 7/1
Bobby Slowik 8/1
Brian Flores 9/1
Jim Harbaugh 9/1
Eric Bieniemy 10/1
Dan Quinn 14/1
Jerod Mayo 14/1
Lincoln Riley 14/1
Brian Johnson 16/1
Raheem Morris 20/1
Deion Sanders 40/1
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It's interesting that Kellen Moore is right behind Belichick. He's the Chargers current offensive coordinator but the team passed on allowing him to have a 3-game audition to finish the season. Jim Harbaugh is a name that will be connected with pretty much every NFL job that opens and he does have ties to Southern California. Harbaugh played quarterback for the Bolts and got his coaching career started at the University of San Diego.
Odds are, however, that Chargers chairman and Dean Spanos is not going to pay the lofty salaries of established names like Harbaugh or Belichick. With his son John also involved in the team's football operations it's also unlikely the club will hire a coach who also wants control over personnel decisions. So, odds are the team will once again be giving an unproven commodity his first NFL head coaching job.