Telesco-McCoy, Year 2 upswing
If Year 2 under Tom Telesco and Mike McCoy beats Year 1, the 2014 Chargers will go to the AFC Championship Game, if not further. Why might Year 2 be better? Five reasons, right here:
• No murkiness: NFL franchises that flounder tend to be muddled. They either lack a clear, smart plan or drift from it too often. Telesco and McCoy, who went to Super Bowls with previous employers, have a clear idea of what works. And they don’t get too cute. Telesco invests his bigger draft chips in consistent producers from major conferences. McCoy is devout about tailoring plans to what players do best. Example: he and assistants such as Frank Reich taught Philip Rivers how to change plays and tempo, figuring Rivers had the smarts to run a no-huddle offense. Rivers responded with perhaps his best NFL season.
• Depth development: Telesco and McCoy inherited a shallow roster. Several months later, they improved the depth on the cheap. Telesco found useful players at the 99 Cent Store -- undrafted free agent Jahleel Addae, preseason pickups Seyi Ajirotutu, Reggie Walker and Sean Lissemore, and October waiver claim Lawrence Guy. The quick-pass offense McCoy’s staff installed, and the work of McCoy’s hand-picked offensive line coach, Joe D’Alessandris, made it easier for the Chargers to mix and match on the fly. When center Nick Hardwick departed the Wild Card game, for example, the offense performed well with stand-in Rich Ohrnberger -- a Telesco addition with no-huddle experience.
• Not a fluke: Even if the schedule ends up being tougher this year, it’s not like the Chargers feasted on pudding last year, at least by AFC standards. Seven games pitted them against playoff-bound teams, and they won five before also winning as a Wild Card underdog. The 5-2 mark was a franchise-best performance against playoff-bound competition. McCoy is Chargers coach in part because Norv Turner’s teams tended to be paper lions, going 9-21 against playoff-bound squads. One of McCoy’s mentors, Dan Henning, coached the Chargers from 1989-1991. His Bolts were 4-16 versus playoff-bound teams.
• Rivers is in his prime: Telesco and McCoy said Rivers was a big part of what excited them about coming to the Chargers. Consider that the Browns had only one winning season in five years under Bill Belichick, whose defensive coordinator was Nick Saban in four of those seasons. Belichick’s top passers in Cleveland were a beaten-down Bernie Kosar, Mike Tomczak and Vinny Testaverde. It wasn’t until he aligned with Tom Brady that Belichick won with consistency. Without a franchise QB, GMs and coaches would do well to rent, not buy, their lodging.
• Luck is helping: The schedule isn’t as thorny as it appeared to be when announced in April. Injury and suspension have battered several Chargers opponents, notably a Cardinals defense that lost two difference makers for the season and saw its sack leader report to training camp three weeks late following a DUI arrest. The Chiefs are attempting major repairs in their offensive line. In the third week of August, Rams quarterback Sam Bradford mangled a knee and Broncos receiver Wes Welker suffered his third concussion in 10 months.
