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Former Atlanta Falcons head coach and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Mike Smith will reportedly be interviewing with the Chargers today for the opportunity to succeed the recently fired Mike McCoy. Annie Heilbrunn reported earlier via Twitter:
Bucs DC Mike Smith expected to be in San Diego today to interview for vacant head coaching job with #Chargers, I'm told.
— Annie Heilbrunn (@annieheilbrunn) January 5, 2017
Mike Smith, as Daniel Stebbins mentioned yesterday, had a long and mostly successful run as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons before suffering consecutive sub-.500 seasons in 2013 and 2014 which led to his firing. By most accounts, Smith is well respected as a teacher and a leader, but his in-game management always left something to be desired.
His time with the Bucs this season has been impressive. They are the 12th-ranked defense by DVOA after being 18th in 2015, but what really stands out is how they finished the season incredibly strong as the 4th-ranked defense by weighted DVOA. Smith is a quality defensive mind and one could hope that he learned from his failure the first time around as a head coach.
At this time, according to some sports books, Mike Smith is the favorite to be the next head coach of the Chargers.