Amid a sluggish 3-5 start, the Los Angeles Chargers fired offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt on Monday night.
The move to get rid of Whisenhunt came from left field, but it was the right decision. Los Angeles is currently averaging 19.6 points per game, 350.6 total offensive yards, 281.1 passing yards, and 69.5 rushing yards.
The Chargers have not scored more than 20 points in a game in the last month. Along with that, despite the return of Melvin Gordon from a contract holdout, they became the first team in the Super Bowl era to rush for less than 40 yards in four consecutive games. Gordon has played in each of those games and has carried the ball 44 times for 112 yards and one touchdown.
With 12 touchdown passes at the midway point of the season, Philip Rivers is on pace for his lowest total since 2007, his second year as a starter.
Whisenhunt joined the team as the offensive coordinator in 2013. He left in 2014 to serve as the head coach for the Titans and two years later returned as the offensive coordinator in Mike McCoy’s final year with the Chargers.
Below is the official team release:
The Los Angeles Chargers today announced that Ken Whisenhunt has been relieved from his duties as offensive coordinator.
“This is not an easy decision and definitely not one that I take lightly,” said head coach Anthony Lynn. “You win as a team, and you lose as a team. It’s never about just one person. At the end of the day, however, I simply felt a change was needed at this time. I want to thank Ken for his years of service to the Chargers organization and wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
