How many wins did changing Head Coach get the Chargers?

[Coachmarkos]

2?
3?
5?

You hear it discussed by the talking heads, that the Head Coach can make a Huge difference in the outcome of games.

While I always thought the team played hard for Norv. (like, they didn't fold and quit like the Chiefs did on Todd Haley, or the Vikings on Childress, etc...)

It was obvious at the end of last season, and possibly the season before, that a change was needed.

How much credit do McCoy and his staff get for turning this thing around?
(keep in mind all the injuries...to both the LB corps and the O-Line)

[SDFan]

+2. It would have been 5 except I hold the coaches responsible for the Houston, Wash, Oak losses (-3).

5-3=2

[Formula 21]

What I like about MM is he came in and said we are going to win now. He could see the diamond where we could only see the coal. And Norv couldn't even find the coal.

[SFW]

+2. It would have been 5 except I hold the coaches responsible for the Houston, Wash, Oak losses (-3).

5-3=2

Are you saying with a better coaching staff the Chargers would be 12-4?

[SDFan]

Are you saying with a better coaching staff the Chargers would be 12-4?

I'm saying with 3 less L's caused by our coaching staff, the record could be 12-4

[6025]

I'm saying with 3 less L's caused by our coaching staff, the record could be 12-4

You're also saying that with Norv we would be 4-12.

[SDFan]

You're also saying that with Norv we would be 4-12.

Who?

[6025]

Who?

Strike that. My math skills were never all that. You're saying 7-9. But I'm not sure Norv gets 7-9 with this team.

[Beerman]

There was some talent on the team, it was just young and unpolished. That is where the big difference lies IMO. Norv did not trust young players, he just had no confidence in them and didn't play them. He relied on veterans and consistently chose them over the young players. With the changes to the CBA, that's an unsupported model for running a franchise. You HAVE to play the young players. It doesn't mean they need to start, but Norv just didn't play them at all.

The key to having a successful stable franchise is developing young talent consistently year after year. In case people forgot, I think we were the oldest team in the league last season. That drastically changed this season. I will admit, we probably went to the extreme, but I do think longterm it was the right call. We are seeing the benefits of all the young players getting extensive reps. We finally have some semblance of an idea of what the team has in all these players and where they need to add to fill in the gaps. Prior to this season, we had NO IDEA really what we had in all these young players. We hadn't seen any of them play extensive snaps. Even last year when the season was done, Norv still didn't play any young players in the final game.

I also think you need to look at more than just the head coach. This season for example, adding Coach D was huge. He changed the entire scheme of the O line and made it a functional unit. Hardwick is probably having his best season after playing a decade of football. Dunlap has turned into a legitimate LT in the league (something no one was saying prior to this season). Fluker has improved steadily all year. Even Clary doesn't look like a gaping wound at OG.

All those changes led to an improved running game and a scheme that actually fit what Matthews could do. I sure as fuck didn't expect him to get 1250 yards rushing this season, not to mention staying relatively healthy all year.

There were just so many combinations of things that led to the improvement of the team overall. We obviously still have some gaping holes on the team, but they are pretty obvious now. We know we have a scheme that works offensively. Defensively it's hard to judge Pagano. Sometimes he has a brilliant game plan and other times not so much. You have to take personnel into account though. We are essentially playing a rookie CB in Wright and we have a castoff playing opposite him in Marshall. A rookie UDFA playing S in his first season. Rookie ILB. UDFA/6th round picks playing OLB. He has really been given a shit hand. The injuries have been brutal. All that being said, we haven't been blown out a single game and we made the playoffs. There's something to be said for getting results. We also held the highest scoring team in history to it's 2 lowest point totals of the season.

All in all, I saw improvement from this team throughout the season. That's really what you want to see IMO. I never really saw improvement from Norv's team. It was the same thing again and again. Same stale offense for 4 years. It worked on occasion, but it just got old. No adjustments.

[Guest]

I don't know exactly how many more wins, but I'm pretty sure that if Norv was still here, our new OLine coach wouldn't be here, and with this OLine, Norv's 7-step drop plays would've resulted in Rivers being sacked a record number of times, several more interceptions, and a lot more losses.

[Formula 21]

The future is bright. A draft coming up, some new mid-level FAs, some coaching upgrades, it's not hard seeing this as an 11 win team next year.

[KNSD]

5. Rivers would be on IR if the previous head coach was still around.