Chargers interview David Shaw, Mike Vrabel and Dan Quinn for coaching job
The Chargers added three experienced head coaches to the list of candidates to replace Brandon Staley on Thursday and Friday, interviewing David Shaw, Mike Vrabel and Dan Quinn.
They announced the trio of meetings, bringing to 12 the number of people the Chargers have publicly identified in their search.
Shaw, 51, most recently was the head coach at Stanford, where his teams went 96-54 in 12 years. He left that position following the 2022 season.
Before being promoted to head coach, Shaw spent four years as the Cardinal’s offensive coordinator, working under Jim Harbaugh, who also has interviewed with the Chargers during this hiring cycle.
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Shaw and Harbaugh were together at the University of San Diego before that, raising the prospect that both could eventually end up with the Chargers for the 2024 season.
Shaw first coached in the NFL in 1997 when he joined Philadelphia in quality control. He then spent four seasons with Oakland before moving on the Baltimore, where he coached quarterbacks and wide receivers.
Vrabel, 48, was fired this month after six years with Tennessee. His teams finished 54-45 in the regular season and reached the playoffs three times.
Vrabel’s Titans lost each of their last three postseason games, however, and failed to advance the last two seasons, going 7-10 and 6-11.
He’s the second-most experienced head coach the Chargers have met with after Harbaugh.
Each of the franchise’s last three head-coach hires — Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn and Staley — had no experience leading a team, except for Lynn serving as interim coach with the Buffalo Bills for one game at the end of the 2016 season.
Harbaugh is the biggest name on the Chargers’ list to date. He also has interviewed with Atlanta, though the Falcons already have plans to meet a second time with Bill Belichick, according to the NFL Network.
If any other NFL teams have talked to Harbaugh, those discussions have not been revealed. Harbaugh also remains in negotiations with Michigan on an extension, according to multiple reports.
Quinn, the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator, met with the Chargers on Friday. He was 43-42 in five-plus seasons as a head coach in Atlanta.
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Quinn, 53, was fired five games into his sixth year, in October of 2020.
Under Quinn, the Falcons made the playoffs twice and advanced to the Super Bowl following the 2016 season. That team blew a 28-3 third-quarter lead, however, and lost in overtime to New England, 34-28.
CBS Sports reported that Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris will interview with the Chargers on Saturday.
Morris, 47, also has head-coaching experience, going 17-31 in three seasons with Tampa Bay and then 4-7 as interim coach after replacing Quinn with the 2020 Falcons.
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