The Chargers made news on Tuesday unrelated to the potential relocation of the team.
The team announced that former Jaguars and Bears defensive coordinator Bob Babich has arrived as the new linebackers coach, and that former linebackers coach Mike Nolan is out.
Babich takes the job without knowing whether he’ll be living in San Diego or Los Angeles. He had been fired last week in Jacksonville.
“It was a great having Mike with us,” coach Mike McCoy said in a release. “Having worked with him before and having his head coaching experience available were two huge assets to me, the staff and the team. Mike will find success and bring success wherever he goes.”
“I want to thank Coach Nolan for his hard work and contributions during the 2015 season,” General Manager Tom Telesco said. “He was only with us for one season, but our young linebackers really grew under his tutelage as the season went along and his experience had a lot to do with their growth.”
Because pretty much every employer who lets an employee go but who wants to let the employee create the impression that the employee is choosing to leave says the employee is “pursuing other opportunities,” it’s hard to know whether Nolan chose to pursue other opportunities, or whether the pursuit of other opportunities was necessitated by the disappearance of his current one.
Nolan, 50, coached the 49ers from 2005 through 2008. He has been with the Broncos, Dolphins, Falcons, and Chargers in the years since being fired in favor of Mike Singletary.