Who Might Be the Chargers' New Offensive Coordinator?

Ignoring for a second that the San Diego Chargers desperately need a Special Teams Coach added to Mike McCoy's staff, I want to go digging through possible candidates for the open Offensive Coordinator position to see who the team might have calling the plays for Philip Rivers and Co. In no specific order:

Hue Jackson

Yeah, that's right, we're starting with Hue. I sold a lot of you readers on Hue as a replacement for Norv Turner as Head Coach, but it wasn't meant to be. Then, when Hue started interviewing for open Offensive Coordinator jobs around the league, I told everyone to calm down because one of two things were going to happen:

1. The San Diego Chargers would hire an Offensive-minded coach that would call his own plays.
2. Jay Gruden, the current Offensive Coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, would get a Head Coaching job somewhere and Hue Jackson would be promoted to fill his job.

Well, I was apparently dead-wrong on point #1. Mike McCoy announced during his introductory press conference that he will hire an Offensive Coordinator and that person will be in charge of calling plays.

As for point #2, there are only two Head Coaching jobs remaining — the Jaguars and Cardinals — and a handful of candidates out there to fill those two remaining positions. The chances of Jay Gruden landing either one of those jobs is small, with the likes of Lovie Smith and Mike Zimmer out there as his competition.

That means that Hue Jackson — who has been an Offensive Coordinator with the Redskins (2003), Falcons (2007) and Raiders (2010) — will most likely be available and could have an interview with the Chargers.

Marty Mornhinweg

Marty was the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach for the 49ers; that's how he made his name. Him, Steve Mariucci and Steve Young were doing big things until Young retired and Jeff Garcia showed up. A year later, Marty was desperate to get a Head Coaching job while his name was still good and jumped in bed with the Detroit Lions. HUGE MISTAKE.

The Lions were so bad, and Mornhinweg was so under-prepared to deal with the media, that the two–year stint nearly ruined Marty's career for good. Luckily for him, Andy Reid found spots for him on the Philadelphia Eagles staff until one day: Marty was the Offensive Coordinator and calling plays.

Mornhinweg has been the Offensive Coordinator in Philadelphia for the last 7 seasons, masterminding a Top 10 offense for 5 of those years. It's surprising that Reid didn't bring Marty with him to Kansas City, but it doesn't take away from what he's done in San Francisco and Philadelphia when given good QBs.

Geep Chryst

This was a recommendation from Twitter. You have to love that name. Who is Geep Chryst? Well, he's the Quarterbacks Coach for the San Francisco 49ers. If you're looking for someone who was integral to the rejuvenation of Alex Smith, and someone who taught Colin Kaepernick how to be an NFL QB, Geep would be a decent place to start.

Chryst even has history with the Chargers. He was the Offensive Coordinator for the 1999-200 San Diego Chargers. His QBs that time around were Ryan Leaf, Erik Kramer, Moses Moreno and … Jim Harbaugh. Funny how that works. Oh, also, there's this:

Chryst implemented the no-huddle offense in San Diego in 1999, which led to Harbaugh enjoying the second-highest passing output (2,761 passing yards) of his 15-year career. The Chargers also completed the most passes (332) in 13 years with Chryst directing the offense and Harbaugh became the first quarterback in team history since Hall of Famer Dan Fouts to pass for 400 yards in a game, that year.

Just throwing him out there as a name to consider.

Someone from the Broncos?

The easiest, and quickest, assumption to make is that Mike McCoy will head back to Denver and take one of his offensive assistants with him as his Offensive Coordinator in San Diego. Here's the list of those guys:

• Clany Barone: Tight Ends
• Brian Callahan: Quality Control, Offense
• Adam Gase: Quarterbacks
• Dave Magazu: Offensive Line
• Eric Studesville: Running Backs
• Tyke Tolbert: Wide Receivers

My favorite from that list is probably Studesville. Like McCoy, he came in with Josh McDaniels and stayed when John Fox came in (Studesville was actually the interim Head Coach after McDaniels was fired). He's worked with Tiki Barber, Marshawn Lynch and Willis McGahee (all guys that got better with coaching).

Cam Cameron

We all know Cam. We all like Cam for what he did in the "glory years" with LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates. Since then, he's been the Head Coach of an atrocious Miami Dolphins team and the Offensive Coordinator of a mediocre offense in Baltimore; an offense that has arguably done better with a guy they hired off the street after firing Cameron mid-season. His stock is low, but the ties to San Diego are still there.

Oh, and it would be neat if Tom Telesco and Mike McCoy hired Cam Cameron because it would seem like the team is trolling us even more than they usually do.

Anyone Else

Seriously. This list could've been endless. I could've named every position coach on the Packers, or maybe Mike Tice, or Mike Mularky (whom I actually like). There are so many options for Mike McCoy from which to choose that he'll mostly rely on guys that he knows, people he has met and formed a personal bond with during some part of his travels. That list could also be endless.

So, we'll do what we do best. We'll sit and we'll wait … and we'll watch the flight patterns of the owner's private jet. A jet that, by the way, just landed in Denver. Picking up an Offensive Coordinator or just bringing the kids back home so that they can get back to school? You decide!