No matter the organization, after going 4-12 in the NFL, the coaching staff will be on the hot seat.
For the San Diego Chargers, head coach Mike McCoy faced no different response after the 2015 season. Coach McCoy was brought in after the 2012 season in which the Chargers spent their last campaign with Norv Turner. McCoy symbolized a new hope that he could turn this franchise around once again, and turn them into eventual Super Bowl winners.
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In 2013, he started on the right track by going 9-7 and making the playoffs, even winning a game in the wild card round before losing to the subsequent AFC champion Denver Broncos. However, the following year, McCoy and the Chargers finished with a mirroring record at 9-7; the only change was missing the playoffs. In 2015, the culmination of many negative factors resulted in the Chargers finishing with a record of 4-12 and last in the division.
After the travesty that was the 2015 season for the San Diego Chargers, several called for the dismissal of coach McCoy. After doing their due diligence, the San Diego front office decided to retain the head coach and allow him to turn the team around for the 2016 season.
Many have cited coach McCoy’s lack of risk-taking as a factor for the team’s bad record in 2015. The Chargers ranked third-worst in the league in fourth-down conversion attempts last season, while also only attempting a two-point conversion only three times.
Furthering this, a cliché in the NFL is that a team takes on the persona of its head coach. With McCoy’s less-than-gutsy attitude, one can only imagine how a team responds to this manner. McCoy has not finished above third place in the AFC West division but has dealt with a litany of injuries, especially in the past two seasons.
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With Ken Whisenhunt back running the offense for the Chargers and the team finally healthy, this seems like the season of redemption for Mike McCoy. Needless to say if McCoy’s Chargers do not perform, I believe that the San Diego Chargers will have a new head coach one year from today.