The trend lately is for teams to look for offensive head coaches, but the Chargers are going to take a look outside the box.
According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the Chargers have asked for permission to interview Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub.
Since the Chiefs have a bye, he could ostensibly interview this week.
Toub’s name has come up before, but faces a lot of the same prejudices other special teams coaches have in the hiring cycle. Among current head coaches, only Baltimore’s John Harbaugh comes from a background of special teams coaching.
Perhaps more teams should look at them, however. They’re the only coaches who have to work with every position group, and are accustomed to adapting on the fly because of the shifting nature of their personnel (injuries to offensive or defensive starters can wreck their best-laid plans since backups are their starters). And because much of their work is done in time-sensitive situations, they’re often better able to make decisions quickly.
Whether that gets more special teams coaches in the door remains to be seen.