The Spanos family saw the 63-21 loss to the Raiders in December. The Spanos family heard all the slander about their organization and at the end of the conversation, the finger usually always pointed back to them. But unlike previous years, the Spanos family wasn’t idle and instead, were aggressive in their search for the next Chargers head coach. They hired Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday and it’s easily the best decision they’ve ever made.
The Spanos family has owned the Chargers since 1984 when Alex Spanos bought a majority stake of the team. Not including interims, the Spanos family has hired 11 coaches that, suffice to say, never quite worked out.
Well, there was Marty Schottenheimer, who led the Chargers to a 14-2 record and the No. 1 seed in the AFC in 2006, but the Spanos family fired him after the team was upset by Tom Brady and the Patriots. A big mistake for a coach who led the Bolts to their best record in franchise history.
Unfortunately, there were a myriad of mistakes that followed the firing of Schottenheimer. You don’t get the reputation for being a humdrum franchise without making some big mistakes.
In the last 11 seasons in which Dean Spanos and their son John Spanos have been at the helm of the organization, the Chargers have never reached an AFC title game or brought a playoff game to Los Angeles.
The Chargers have had Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert as their quarterback. But they haven’t been able to make a Super Bowl. A shocking fact.
When the Spanos family hired Brandon Staley in 2021, they missed out on Super-Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton. He was reportedly interested in coaching Herbert but Payton was expensive.
The hiring of Harbaugh was an uncharacteristic choice for the Spanos family but it speaks volumes. It says that they want their franchise to be taken seriously. And it says that Dean meant what he said in “building and maintaining a championship-caliber program.”
Dean is notorious for being one of the worst owners in the NFL. He’s been called cheap for his unwillingness to pay coaches. He’s been accused of nepotism by hiring his son John as president of football operations.
Now, the Spanos family not only listened to their fanbase but, in many ways, made a decision that has already changed the reputation of the franchise.
In a statement from John on Wednesday, he said, “Nobody has built a team more successfully, and repeatedly, in recent history than Jim Harbaugh. His former players swear by him, and his opponents swear at him. Jim is one of one.”
This is more than a rebuild by the Spanos family. This is a franchise-altering moment. I suppose it was lucky number 12 for the Spanos family.