Could Davis Webb Be Chargers New Coach Next Year?

The Denver Broncos offense can’t move the ball or score points, and the focus is shifting almost completely to quarterback Bo Nix. Nix doesn’t look like the same player he was before he broke his ankle, and coach Sean Payton is trying to solve the problem by focusing on the details surrounding Nix. 

Left in the dust in all this is offensive coordinator Davis Webb. He was seen as the problem when Payton made the decision to take over the play-calling chores a couple of games ago, but it now seems almost certain that Webb wasn’t the problem given that the offense has performed just as poorly with Payton calling the shots. 

Webb can’t be happy about this. He was demoted in a very public way for a problem that wasn’t his fault, and Payton also did a fine job of gaslighting his protege by saying Webb was “fantastic” about the demotion when he made his first comments about the change. 

Now Webb has Payton working with the details of the offense as well, so you have to wonder exactly what’s left for the offensive coordinator to be doing. If Payton is calling plays and tweaking the details, is Webb’s function as coordinator mostly clerical when it comes to putting together the game plan? 

One of the things that came out when Webb first relinquished play calling was that the move was seen as inevitable, and some sources around the league were surprised it took as long as it did for the change to be made. Some had it happening as quickly as halftime of Webb’s first tough game, and others have wondered if he really got to call any of his own plays at all. 

Meanwhile, we have the Los Angeles Chargers in a state of chaos. The big topic of conversation is the possible firing of new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, but it sure does look like coach Jim Harbaugh has hit the expiration date on his effectiveness as a head coach. 

We also know that Webb did multiple interviews during the offseason, with at least one happening in the AFC West. There were reportedly also head coaching interviews among them, and it’s not hard to make the leap of faith about a possibility here. 

The contract situation would be onerous. Payton originally said it would be a “pain in the [expletive]” if he had to face Webb within the division, but what if that was as a head coach and not as a coordinator? It’s an interesting possibility, even if it is a hot-take question at the moment.