EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz put a bow on the Los Angeles Chargers’ 2025 season Thursday at their annual end-of-year news conference.

The Chargers fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman and offensive line coach Mike Devlin on Tuesday, and much of the conversation Thursday was related to those decisions. Why move on from Roman now? What will Harbaugh and Hortiz look for in the next offensive coordinator? How involved will quarterback Justin Herbert be in the process?

Those were just a few of the questions. Plenty of other topics were covered.

Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter is interviewing for multiple NFL head-coach vacancies. The Chargers could be looking at new coordinators on offense and defense in 2026. They are projected to have over $100 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap. They also have a number of key players set to reach free agency as they move on from a second straight season that ended in the first round of the playoffs. What are the plans for all these moving parts?

Here is everything we learned from Hortiz and Harbaugh.

Firing Roman and the OC search

Roman did a commendable job guiding the Chargers’ offense through a rough injury situation this season, particularly along the offensive line. But for the second time in two seasons, Roman was overmatched in the playoffs. His offense scored just 12 points in last season’s wild-card loss to the Houston Texans. The Chargers then scored just 3 points against the New England Patriots on Sunday night.

one goal in mind pic.twitter.com/HkES3ttpSC

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 15, 2026

Harbaugh alluded to those postseason failures multiple times when discussing Roman.

He said the NFL season is “almost two seasons, really.”

“You got the regular season, you got the postseason,” Harbaugh said. “It’s results-oriented, and as an organization, we’re doing everything with one goal in mind, and that’s to win a championship, and we’ll do what we think is best to build for that.”

Harbaugh later added, “We’re happy with the success that we had, the wins that we had, but ultimately, unless we feel like we’re building for the championship and showing the results that are taking us there, then we’re going to strive to improve that area.”

The Chargers were largely optimistic after a surprise playoff appearance in Year 1 of the Harbaugh-Hortiz era in 2024. The playoff loss to the Texans stung, but there was hope for progress in Year 2. A second consecutive first-round exit amounts to stagnation, even with the injuries the Chargers endured this season. The issue in both postseason losses was the offense. As Harbaugh said Thursday, his philosophy is to “keep moving forward with urgency.” Firing Roman, a coach he has known for a quarter century, is a good example of that “urgency.”

In reality, the Chargers had enough talent to win that game against the Patriots. They lost tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt for the season, but in New England, Jamaree Salyer was back at left tackle and Trey Pipkins III at right tackle. Roman should have been able to produce 17 points. He did not call a good enough game to get the Chargers there.

Roman abandoned the run early, when the Chargers had a chance to establish physicality up front. He did not provide Herbert with a schematic advantage in the passing game, and there were opportunities in the first half when the protection was functional. Herbert played poorly, and he deserves some blame. However, it is clear that Roman’s play-calling and game-planning performance against the Patriots changed the course of his Chargers future.

“Our opinion is that we can improve,” Harbaugh said, “and that’s what we’re going to chase.”

So the Chargers will now enter a search to find Herbert’s fifth offensive coordinator in seven NFL seasons.

They began the search Thursday morning when they interviewed Marcus Brady, who has spent the past two seasons as Harbaugh’s passing game coordinator.

A couple of moments from Harbaugh stood out when assessing what he is looking for in his next offensive coordinator.

“A head coach of the offense,” Harbaugh said.

This could be a message to some of the higher-end candidates on the market. Mike McDaniel spent the past four seasons as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach. He is interviewing for head-coaching and offensive-coordinator vacancies. Kevin Stefanski spent the past six seasons as the Cleveland Browns’ head coach. He is already interviewing for head-coach openings.

McDaniel and Stefanski could take head-coaching jobs. Or one of them could come to Los Angeles, coach Herbert, call plays and, as Harbaugh is intimating, have head-coach-level control over an entire unit. It’s a decent pitch.

Harbaugh also mentioned a few traits he is seeking in the next offensive coordinator.

“We’re going to look for the best one that has a track record, has proven success and can show us his vision for what our offense is going to look like,” Harbaugh said.

Track record and proven success. Those traits would seem to point toward a more experienced candidate, of which there are plenty in this cycle. On top of Stefanski and McDaniel, former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll is available. Another experienced name to monitor is Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, who called plays for some elite Detroit Lions passing offenses in 2016 and 2017.

The Chargers are going to be casting a “wide net,” Harbaugh said. And that is smart. The NFL’s interviewing process is not just about finding the right candidate to fill a role. It is also a legal pathway to mining for precious information. As Hortiz said, “It’s a great opportunity for us to learn a lot about the candidates and learn a little about ourselves, too.”

The Chargers should absolutely interview some younger, greener candidates, such as Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, Seattle Seahawks passing game coordinator Jake Peetz and, if they get approval, Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.

But proof of concept seems to be high on Harbaugh’s list, based on his comments Thursday.

Minter’s likely departure

Hortiz confirmed that every team with a head-coach opening has requested Minter for an interview. That would be nine interviews in total. Minter has already completed interviews with the Baltimore Ravens, Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons.

The Chargers are anticipating Minter taking one of the nine open jobs.

“That’s a when, not an if,” Hortiz said. “We’ll keep Jesse as long as he wants to be here, but I don’t know how long that’s going to be.”

This is not breaking news, though. Many in the Chargers’ building were surprised Minter did not get a head-coaching interview last year. The Chargers knew this moment was inevitable. Minter is not just a schematic genius. He has the temperament, humility and communication skills requisite for the position.

“We know it’s a matter of when,” Harbaugh said, “so we’ve been preparing for that.”

Hortiz added: “We have a lot of great coaches on the staff, on the defensive staff, that will be considered, too, if he does depart.”

The one coach who has a very good chance of being the promotional replacement is defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale.

Clinkscale first joined with Harbaugh as Michigan’s defensive backs coach in 2021. He then spent 2022 and 2023 as Michigan’s co-defensive coordinator alongside Minter, before Harbaugh brought both coaches to the Chargers in 2024.

There is one important nugget to consider when discussing Minter’s departure. Minter will have to build his own defensive staff, and he could bring several of the Chargers’ defensive coaches, such as defensive line coach Mike Elston, edge rushers coach Dylan Roney and safeties coach Adam Fuller. Linebackers coach NaVorro Bowman is also stepping down from his position to be more present for his son, NaVorro Jr., who is a top-ranked high school basketball recruit.

The Chargers need to find an offensive play caller. They could be dealing with some significant brain drain on defense, as well.

The Herbert of it all

Hortiz and Harbaugh passionately defended Herbert at this news conference last year, after their franchise quarterback threw four interceptions against the Texans. Harbaugh said then that criticism of Herbert was “completely unfair.” He said the Chargers did Herbert a “disservice.” Hortiz said setting a narrative about Herbert off two playoff games was “absurd.”

This year, the tone was noticeably different.

When asked about Herbert’s performance against the Patriots, Harbaugh said, “There’s multiple sides to every story. Nobody feels good about not winning the game, and it starts with me. That’s my accountability. You take the judgment, you take the pain, and I’d say the same for Justin. Any competitor, anybody that’s going to grow from an experience — fill in the blank, what that is — that’s what needs to be done first. And that’s what I’m doing.”

Later, Hortiz and Harbaugh were asked if they have any concern over Herbert’s playoff performance over the past two seasons.

“No. I’m concerned that we didn’t win,” Hortiz said. “It has nothing to do with any individual player.”

the foundation is there pic.twitter.com/1lA5djSejg

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 15, 2026

“Justin’s a winner,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t think there’s anybody that could watch him — the way he prepares, trains, the level of talent — and not say that he’s a winner.”

Herbert must play better in the playoffs. That fact is unavoidable.

The Chargers also must build a better infrastructure around him, from the scheme to the play calling to the protection. They should be involving Herbert in the offensive coordinator search, though Harbaugh said he has no plans to do so.

“He’s not looking to be the GM or the coach,” Harbaugh said. “It’s our responsibility to put him in the best position possible.”

Herbert was hit more than any other quarterback in the league in 2025, according to TruMedia. He was hit on the second-highest rate of dropbacks, so this was not a sample-size issue. Herbert was also pressured at the highest rate of any quarterback this season.

Nobody could have planned for both Alt and Slater suffering season-ending injuries. The Chargers could have upgraded more aggressively on the interior. Left guard Zion Johnson took a step forward this season, but he did not play well against the Patriots. Center Bradley Bozeman and right guard Mekhi Becton struggled. The Chargers re-signed Bozeman last offseason. They signed Becton as a free agent.

The bottom line is simple: The Chargers have to protect their most prized asset. They failed to do that this past season. Some of that can be explained by injuries. Some of that can be explained by subpar team building.

“There’s multiple things that go into that,” Hortiz said. “Health is certainly one of them. Adding players, making it more competitive, I think that’s what you look at in the offseason. How do we get better, both from a schematic standpoint and a player standpoint? But to say there’s an answer today, there’s not, and that’s what the offseason is for. How do we improve those things?”

Offseason plans

The Chargers are projected to have $103.5 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap.

Hortiz, though, said he is not expecting to change his pragmatic approach to free agency.

“I don’t want to spend recklessly,” he said. “If you chase perceived needs in free agency, in the draft, you end up, more often than not, overpaying or making a mistake. So we do have to be calculated, we have to be smart, we have to be all in on the player and believe in the player. So we’ll spend money, but we’re going to spend money internally, too, because there’s a lot of guys we would like to have back.”

The list of internal free agents is long and full of worthy players.

Starting in the edge room, Khalil Mack and Odafe Oweh are both pending free agents. Oweh will command a sizable deal. So will Mack, if he chooses to keep playing. Mack re-signed with the Chargers last year on a one-year, $18 million deal. Oweh, especially coming off his three-sack playoff performance, could be looking at a multiyear deal in the $19 million-per-year range. And Tuli Tuipulotu, who had 13 sacks this past season, is eligible for an extension.

Those three will eat up cap space if the Chargers choose to extend them. The Chargers would also be allocating a fair amount of their resources to one position group. Hortiz did not sound opposed to that strategy, however.

“They’re impact players, all three of them,” Hortiz said. “They’re great teammates, and they’re great competitors, and they’re just great people to be around. So yeah, we’re investing in great players who are great people.”

Other important internal free agents include Johnson, defensive linemen Teair Tart and Da’Shawn Hand and receiver Keenan Allen.

“Those guys know we love them, and we’d love to have them all back,” Hortiz said.

The Chargers will also have to make a decision on receiver Quentin Johnston’s fifth-year option ahead of the May 1 deadline. If the Chargers exercise that option, Johnston would cost a projected $17.5 million against the cap in 2027, according to Over the Cap. He is under contract on his rookie deal for 2026.

When asked about Johnston’s fifth-year option, Hortiz said, “Again, it’s early. But I’ll say this: I love Q and the growth he’s made. The development he’s made from Year 1 to Year 3 has been awesome to see, and I’m a big fan of Q’s.”