If the Chargers were a home, general manager Joe Hortiz and coach Jim Harbaugh are in agreement: its foundation is set in stone.
The team is going to continue to build its offense around quarterback Justin Herbert, that much is clear. But as the renovation begins — with Harbaugh parting ways with offensive coordinator Greg Roman and offensive line coach Mike Devlin earlier this week — the Chargers coach said Thursday he knows that growth is necessary after back-to-back years of first-round playoff exits.
Hortiz concurred with his longtime colleague.
“That’s what the offseason is for; time to look at things internally and look externally to see how you can get better,” said Hortiz, who is wrapping up his second season with the organization alongside Harbaugh. “You’ve got a nice structure, and that’s what we have here. But we’re going to keep renovating every room. And right when you get done with the bathrooms, you go to the kitchen. But you know what? You can’t ignore the bathroom.” Hortiz added: “You can’t focus all your attention on one room and let the other ones fall too.”
The duo avoided placing blame on Herbert’s trend of postseason woes, offensive line construction or Roman, a similar retread of talking points from last year’s post-hoc presser of vague talking points.
Hortiz made one thing clear: He won’t consider any season a success until the Chargers claim their first Super Bowl title.
“Did we do Justin a disservice or whatever word you want to put it?” Hortiz said. “We weren’t good enough and our goal was to be good enough. I did [team owner] Dean [Spanos] a disservice. I did coach a disservice. We all did, all of us together. We want to win the Super Bowl, and so we’ve got to get better.”
That begins with finding a new “head coach of the offense,” Harbaugh said. Under Roman, the Chargers only scored one touchdown across two playoff games.
“A fresh start, a new direction,” Harbaugh said of his reasoning to fire Roman. “Fresh start for [Roman], fresh start for our team, for our offense.”
Harbaugh said he hopes to bring in a new offensive coordinator with a “physical” identity. Hortiz adding that the job — especially coaching Herbert — is an “attractive position,” and that they’ll plan on bringing in the best possible candidate to work alongside Harbaugh, casting a wide net.
Chargers passing game coordinator Marcus Brady was first to interview for the offensive coordinator job, meeting with assistant general manager Chad Alexander, Hortiz and Harbaugh on Thursday.
Outside of Roman and Devlin, Hortiz announced that linebackers coach NaVorro Bowman is departing the Chargers and coaching altogether. Bowman, who played for Harbaugh when he coached the San Francisco 49ers, is planning to help his son, Notre Dame High junior guard NaVorro Bowman Jr., navigate the college recruitment process, Hortiz said.
Outside of coaching personnel changes — which could include defensive coordinator Jesse Minter departing for a head coaching job — Hortiz said he wants to use some of the more than $100 million in projected salary-cap space to retain some of the Chargers’ pending free agents.
Outside linebackers Odafe Oweh and Khalil Mack (who said this week that he’d contemplate retirement for the second consecutive season), wide receiver Keenan Allen and left guard Zion Johnson are set to become free agents in March. Hortiz said he hadn’t talked with wide receiver Quentin Johnston and his representation about whether they would pick up his fifth-year option.
“We have to be smart,” Hortiz said. “We’ll spend money, but we’re going to spend money internally too, because there’s a lot of guys we’d like to have back.”
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