If you had to describe the Chargers culture change in the last two years, the word that comes to mind is “palpable.” It’s real. Not talking about penalites, disciipline, and that sort of thing. The best players are going to jump offsides at inopportune times. J.J. Watt does it. Fletcher Cox does it. Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram do it.
The Chargers needed a leader of men. Bosa and others were vocal about previous coach Mike McCoy letting players get away with too much and the lack of structure in general. Tom Telesco echoed the same sentiments:
“We needed a leader,” Telesco said. “Didn’t care if he had an offensive background, defensive background, special teams background. Didn’t matter if he had previous head coaching experience or didn’t. It didn’t matter if he was a coordinator or college head coach. We needed someone who could lead.”
Telesco mentioned how a book titled “Grit” resonated with him. That same day, Anthony Lynn walked in. From there, it was history. Melvin Gordon spoke about Lynn’s ways:
“He tries to keep it his way, which is good, but (he also) tries to give us a little leeway. That’s why he’s pretty headstrong about what he wants,” Gordon said of Lynn. “Whatever he has been through or done, it got him there and he won the Super Bowl.”
Russell Okung said “I’ve never heard of a coach go out of his way to make sure the players know how much he appreciates each one of them.” On a personal level, Lynn knows how to connect. We never talk about the emotional side of football. The relationships you build. How that brings a team together and in turn that team plays harder. Lynn has been fantastic at that.
