Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll emerged as the favorite to get the position of head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, according to league sources.
Daboll is one of nine candidates interviewed for the job, and the Chargers are planning the next steps in their process, which will be influenced by the outcome of Saturday night’s division game between the Ravens and the Bills.
If the bills are lost, Daboll can meet with the shippers whenever he wants and can accept the job of head coach, if offered. If the bills win, the Chargers must wait for Daboll to end the postseason before negotiating.
Daboll would fit in with many of the traits the Chargers are looking for in their next head coach. He is an offensive coach, who learns under some of the best coaches of all time and helped lift the game and the production of Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Daboll is expected to do the same with Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert.
In addition, there is great familiarity. Daboll went to St. Louis High School. Francis of Buffalo with Chargers general manager Tom Telesco. The two played on the same high school football team, with Daboll in two classes behind Telesco. Daboll was a strong safety, and Telesco was a wide receiver and corner defender.
From their time together in Buffalo, both men have followed different paths. Daboll continued to learn his trade at the feet of Bill Belichick of New England and Nick Saban in Alabama before returning home to Buffalo, where he helped Bills’ offense become one of the best in the league.
Telesco left St. Francis to study under former Colts general manager Bill Polian before becoming Chargers general manager.
Now Daboll and Telesco could once again be teammates on the opposite coast in Los Angeles, still trying to win together.