Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh
Offensive Coordinator: Mike McDaniel
Defensive Coordinator: Chris O’Leary
Special Teams Coordinator: Ryan Ficken
2025 Summary (W-L Record: 11-6)
The Chargers had another good season under Jim Harbaugh in 2025. Although for the second year in a row, it ended in a disappointing Wild Card playoff loss.
The defense was outstanding all season, finishing 9th in points, 5th against the pass, 8th against the run, and 7th in takeaways. They gave the Chargers a chance in their playoff loss by holding the Patriots to just 16 points.
The offense was just too undermanned, particularly up front, to be able to do anything. Quarterback Justin Herbert was under pressure on a whopping 56.8% of snaps in that game according to PFF. And he was sacked 6 times. L.A. scored just 3 points.
And this was the story throughout much of the season. The offense was limited by their offensive line after losing left tackle Rashawn Slater before the season and right tackle Joe Alt for all but 6 games.
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Despite having a quarterback with one of the best arms in the NFL, they didn’t have the time to push the ball downfield. L.A. finished just 23rd in frequency of passes traveling 10 yards or more from the line of scrimmage. They also ranked just 19th in pass plays of 20 yards or more.
It didn’t help that defenses had little respect for their receivers. The Chargers faced the 2nd-highest rate of cover-1 (man free) in the NFL according to Cody Alexander of MatchQuarters. L.A. also saw the 6th highest rate of single-high coverage.
The approach by opponents was simple. Defenses knew the Chargers couldn’t protect and they weren’t afraid of getting burned deep. So they played single-high to get more defenders in the box and avoid giving the Chargers the ability to run the ball. Then they smothered L.A.’s receivers so Herbert had nowhere to go with the ball in the little time he had before the pass rush got home.
The Chargers addressed all of that this offseason with one key move.
Key Additions
RB Keaton Mitchell
FB Alec Ingold
WR Brenen Thompson (4th Rd, 105th Overall)
TE Charlie Kolar
TE David Njoku
C Tyler Biadasz
LG Kayode Awosika
C Jake Slaughter (2nd Rd, 63rd Overall)
RG Cole Strange
OT Travis Burke (4th Rd, 117th Overall)
DL Dalvin Tomlinson
DL Nick Barrett (5th Rd, 145th Overall)
ED Akheem Mesidor (1st Rd, 22nd Overall)
S Genesis Smith (4th Rd, 131st Overall)
Key Losses
WR Keenan Allen
TE Tucker Fisk
TE Will Dissly
TE Tyler Conklin
LT Austin Deculus
LG Zion Johnson
C Bradley Bozeman
RG Mekhi Becton
OT Bobby Hart
OT Jamaree Salyer
DL Da’Shawn Hand
DL Otito Ogbonnia
EDGE Odafe Oweh
CB Benjamin St-Juste
Biggest Questions Entering 2026
Will the O-Line be better (and healthier)?
As mentioned above, the Chargers’ O-line was absolutely decimated last season. They lost left tackle Rashawn Slater before season even started, and they only got 6 games from right tackle Joe Alt.
The O-line was one big game of musical chairs, and its inability to protect Justin Herbert was the #1 area of concern all season. L.A. finished the year 31st in pressure % allowed and 29th in sacks.
Their run game fared a little bit better, finishing in the middle of the pack. But that was likely due more to Herbert’s ability to scramble (and run for his life). In fact, the Chargers had a larger percentage of their rushing yards come from the scramble than any team in the NFL according to PFF.
Ultimately, their issues keeping Herbert upright sunk their season, as they were non-competitive on offense vs. the Patriots in the Wild Card round:
So will this year be different? Welp, it’s not off to a great start.
Center Tyler Biadasz, who they signed this offseason, tore his ACL during training camp and is done for the season. So it sounds like rookie 2nd-round pick Jake Slaughter will be the starting center.
Rashawn Slater’s status for the start of the season is also up in the air after a flare-up to his surgically-repaired knee.
The good news is that Joe Alt appears to be ready to go. And I have to believe the Slater will play some good football when he does return to the lineup. So conceivably, they should be improved at the tackle positions, and by extension, across the O-line.
They’ll need to be if they finally want to win a playoff game.
What impact will Mike McDaniel have on the offense?
I’m not sure there was a more important coordinator hire this offseason across the entire NFL than the Chargers hiring Mike McDaniel to be their OC.