What the Chargers Rebuild Will Look Like

Welcome all to National Overreacting Monday. The Monday after the first NFL game of the year. This is the day where NFL fans make outlandish claims about their favorite team after one game. You probably already heard some of this nonsense: "I think there is a real QB controversy in New England." Or "Darrelle Revis is finished!" Or my favorite "Carson Wentz is the next Andrew Luck."

Well I decided to give my two cents and contribute to this malarkey. The season is OVER for the San Diego Chargers! Forget the fact that San Diego squandered a 17-point lead only to lose in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs (a division rival whom they haven’t defeated now in over two years). Ignore the fact that Mike McCoy, their head coach, coached not to lose with his timid decision making. Overlook the fact that the Chargers lost Keenan Allen, their best skill position player, for the year. The San Diego Chargers are simply not good, from management, to their coaching, to their players. If you think that is a painful pill to swallow, then you might want to click the X button on the top right of the screen before you continue on reading.

Things are going to get worse, a lot worse before they get better. I am not just talking about this year either. Charger fans, want a prediction for this winter: It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life (sorry I watched the movie Groundhog Day over the weekend). I am not talking Cleveland Browns bad. The Chargers will probably squeak out about five wins this year giving them a second consecutive year drafting in the top 10 next year.

However, this is the beginning of the end. The Chargers have an aging quarterback, thin roster, a bad coach, and a mediocre general manager. The tools are simply not there for this team to be considered a contender anymore. Management decided not to go all in to make a final push at the Super Bowl like the Denver Broncos did with their aging quarterback. Instead, they attempted to add subpar complimentary pieces via free agency and build through the draft. Basically, putting a band-aid on a wound that needed stitches.

So San Diego fans, get ready to hear the dreaded R- word; rebuilding. It is not as bad as it seems. Don’t look at it as rebuilding, but more of a Renaissance period for the Chargers. The term renaissance means a renewal or resurgence of life, vigor, interest, etc. This is exactly what the San Diego Chargers and their fans need.

So what will this Renaissance look like? It isn’t going to be pretty. First, it will start with the firing of the coaches. Once again, Chargers ownership are a year late with relieving their coaches of their duties due to poor performance. After this year, Mike McCoy and John Pagano will be fired. McCoy coaches scared and isn’t a leader, while Pagano never puts his players in position to succeed and seems to just throw stuff against the wall to see if it sticks. Some will say that Tom Telesco, the Chargers general manager will be fired, but I don’t see it yet. The good news is, the Chargers will make a bold move and sign a big time coach. The bad news is, they have to, if they want to become relative and competitive in the Los Angeles market. Yes, because of the Chargers failures this year, they will fail to get the public vote they need to stay in San Diego and be forced to move to Los Angeles at years end.

It won’t get any better for the fans that decide to stick with the Chargers after their exodus from San Diego. They will continue seeing former Chargers greats leave. Gates will retire after next year, and Rivers will follow suit shortly after. Fast forward to the 2018 NFL draft. The Chargers are on the clock with an early pick for the third year in a row because they went 4-12 in the regular season. Roger Goodell gets to the podium and says, "With the second pick of the 2018 NFL draft, the Los Angeles Chargers select, Josh Rosen, quarterback out of UCLA." The Chargers pick the local talent and the future franchise quarterback. Rosen is no finished prospect, but will benefit under the one year tutelage of Philip Rivers, who leaves the Chargers to go to a team that is a quarterback away from the Super Bowl.

Rosen experiences some growing pains during his first couple of years because he has to battle 2 all pro quarterbacks within the division, Paxton Lynch, and Derek Carr. But the Chargers management invest heavily into Rosen by fortifying the offense line to keep the young passer up right. Chargers brass also realizes that in order to win their division they need to add talent on the defensive front to harass Carr and Lynch. The Chargers end their 9 year playoff draught and enter the 2022 playoffs as a wild card where they are one and done. In the offseason Chargers management doesn’t play any games with Rosen and extend his contract. Rosen rewards the Chargers confidence in him by leading them back to the playoffs the following year where they lose in the AFC Conference Championship game. A year later Rosen takes the Chargers to the Super Bowl and brings home the Lombardi Trophy for the city of Los Angeles.

The window is pretty much shut for the city of San Diego and the Chargers. The owners and management has failed them. All good things must come to an end. It sucks that in order to experience success one needs to fail. The San Diego Chargers have failed. The Baltimore Ravens won a Super Bowl 5 years after they moved from Cleveland. It is a shame that history has to repeat itself, but it looks like the Chargers are heading down the same path.