Chargers, Harbaugh plan second interview
From Staff and Wire Reports
University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers are expected to meet in the coming days for the second time since the team began interviewing candidates to replace Brandon Staley as coach. Harbaugh was one of 15 coaches to interview since the process began Jan. 9.
ESPN, citing unnamed sources, was the first to report that Harbaugh and the Chargers would meet for the second time in two weeks. Harbaugh, who led Michigan to the national championship earlier this month, also is scheduled to have a second interview with the Atlanta Falcons, according to multiple reports.
Raheem Morris, the Rams’ defensive coordinator, was the 15th candidate to interview with the Chargers when they met over the weekend. The Chargers also have interviewed eight candidates to replace Tom Telesco as general manager. Staley and Telesco were fired Dec. 15.
John Spanos, the Chargers’ president of football operations, said last month in an interview with beat reporters that it wouldn’t necessarily be the case that the team would hire a GM first and then a coach. He also said the Chargers would cast a wide net in their searches for the two positions. --Elliott Teaford
STROUD, TEXANS REFLECT ON STRONG SEASON >>
After going 3-13-1 a year ago, the Texans rode a terrific season by rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud to go 10-7 and win the AFC South. Houston then manhandled Cleveland in the wild-card round before being ousted by the top-seeded Ravens.
Although the Texans fell short of reaching the AFC championship game for the first time, they took solace in being one of the last eight teams standing.
“Proud of our guys for their effort throughout this entire season, for getting to this moment,” rookie coach Demeco Ryans said. “It’s not a moral victory, just being here. It’s not what we set out to do. But we accomplished a lot this year. I am looking forward to the future.”
The 22-year-old Stroud threw for a whopping 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns compared to only five interceptions, a league-best touchdowninterception ratio.
The second overall pick in last year’s draft continued his success in his first postseason game, passing for 274 yards and three scores in a 45-17 blowout of the Browns.
But Stroud couldn’t figure out how to be effective against Baltimore’s swarming, aggressive and hard-hitting defense in Saturday’s loss, going just 19 for 33 for a meager 175 yards.
“That’s a great Ravens team there. They deserved to win,” Stroud said. “It’s tough getting embarrassed like that, but definitely our future is bright.”
PACKERS NO LONGER UNDER RADAR >>
Green Bay Packers coach Matt Lafleur began the offseason with a message for a team that overcame inexperience to reach the divisional round of the playoffs.
The days of catching opponents by surprise are over.
“Just because we got to a certain spot doesn’t mean that’s guaranteed moving forward,” Lafleur said Monday at his season-ending news conference. “So what are we going to do to get better? And the expectation is that when they come back April 15th, they’re better than the team that left today, and that’s not just going to happen by chance.”
The Packers (10-9) were the youngest team to win a playoff game since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, according to the Elias Sports Bureau’s “weighted age” metric, which factors in how many games in which a player appeared.
They bounced back from a 1-5 start to sneak into the playoffs with the NFC’S No. 7 seed. They beat the second-seeded Dallas Cowboys 48-32 and led the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers most of the way before falling 24-21.
The Packers believe they’re ready to contend for years now that quarterback Jordan Love has shown he’s a worthy successor to four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, who got traded to the New York Jets last April.
“There’s going to be guys kind of patting us on our back and telling us the future’s bright and all that kind of stuff,” defensive lineman Kenny Clark said. “We’ve got to stick to that feeling of we were that seven seed working to get here. We’ve got to just keep putting in work, not getting too big-headed about what we did.”
MAYFIELD TALKS FUTURE WITH BUCS >>
Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers feel they’ve built a strong foundation for continued success.
The biggest question the NFC South champions face in the coming months is whether the team’s future includes the much-traveled quarterback, who resurrected his career by replacing Tom Brady and leading the Bucs to a third straight division title.
Mayfield, 28, reiterated after Sunday’s 31-23 NFC divisional-round playoff loss to the Detroit Lions that he would like remain to with Tampa Bay after playing this season on a one-year, $4 million contract that also paid him more than $2 million in incentives.