Following a season filled with losses and injuries, San Diego Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy will be retained, McCoy confirmed at a press conference Monday.
"They've been behind me 100 percent," McCoy said at a press conference, saying John Spanos has told him the family is behind him 100 percent the entire season.
"I'm the head coach until I'm told different, and there was never anyone telling me different," McCoy said, adding he was excited for the opportunity.
With help from Offensive Coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, the Chargers went to the playoffs in McCoy’s first season.
After that, things have gone downhill, in a bad way. McCoy went 9-7, missing the playoffs in 2014. This season, McCoy went 4-12 in an injury-riddled season. McCoy now has a career-losing record as the Chargers head coach. Read a full analysis of McCy's coaching record here.
At a press conference Monday, McCoy said the team had a meeting and said the team kept fighting until the end, though "no one is happy with the way the season went."
"We have a lot of work ahead of us," McCoy said of him, General Manager Tom Telesco and Spanos.
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Additionally, the team announced they had fired Offensive Coordinator Frank Reich. When asked if McCoy would consider Ken Whisenhunt, McCoy said "we'll do what's best for the football team."
In the coming months, McCoy said team officials would look at "what's in the best interest of the team" and see if certain injuries would be preventable.
Within hours of speaking with the media on Monday, the Chargers announced later that afternoon that a total of six assistant coaches had been relieved of their duties:
Offensive Coordinator Frank Reich
Offensive Line Coach Joe D’Alessandris
Tight Ends Coach Pete Metzelaars
Wide Receivers Coach Fred Graves
Defensive Line Coach Don Johnson
Assistant Offensive Line Coach Andrew Dees
Johnson was the longest tenured coach and had been with the Bolts since 2009. Metzelaars just finished his second year with the team while the other four had been with the organization for three seasons.
In an online letter on the state of the team, Chargers' President of Football Operations John Spanos wrote "we are disappointed with the outcome as our expectations have not been met."
Spanos said he has "the utmost confidence" in the team's leadership. Spanos ultimately makes the decision on retaining the head coach or not.
"Tom Telesco, Mike McCoy, and I have already begun evaluating every aspect of the team to take the essential steps to put a winning product back on the field," Spanos wrote. "We will waste no time in making the necessary changes."
In the letter, he praised the players for their dedication to the team and said decisions made today and in the future will help get the team back on the path to success for next season. Read the full letter here.
As of Monday 7:30 PT, other assistant coaches including Defensive Coordinator John Pagano and linebackers coach Mike Nolan were still part of the coaching staff and listed on the team's website. During the Monday press conference, McCoy did not comment on any roster changes, saying "we'll always look at the team and see how we need to improve moving forward."
No further information was immediately available.
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