McCoy had one thing to do, though, before accepting the Chargers’ offer, so it was a good thing Chargers president Dean Spanos’ private plane was at his disposal.

“There was no doubt in my mind when I got back on that plane to go back home,” said McCoy, the former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator who was introduced Tuesday as Chargers’ new coach. “They wanted to keep me here last night. But I said, ‘I’ve got to talk to my wife about this before.’ If I made the decision without talking to my wife, I might get in a little trouble.”

So McCoy flew back to Denver to talk it over with his wife, Kellie. McCoy, his wife and their two children were back on the same plane Tuesday morning, flying back to San Diego to take the job.

“Without a doubt, we knew this was the place we wanted to be,” said McCoy, who signed a four-year contract.

McCoy replaces Norv Turner, who was fired along with general manager A.J. Smith after the Chargers finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the third straight season.

The move comes three days after the top-seeded Broncos were eliminated from the playoffs in a double-overtime home loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

The 40-year-old McCoy is the same age as Tom Telesco, who was hired as general manager last week. He interviewed after the Chargers already had talked to Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, fired head coaches Lovie Smith and Ken Whisenhunt, and Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.

“Once he came in and once we saw how good he was, we just felt we had to have him now,” Telesco said of McCoy. “We had to get it done or we’d lose him.”

“He was polished, prepared, had great questions, which I think is big, too, that he had a lot of questions for us. It’s a partnership between the GM and the head coach, through and through. We spend more time with each other during the season than we do with our own family, so it’s got to be a tight relationship. When he came in, after a little bit of time, you could tell he was the right guy for us. We went after him hard.”

San Diego was scheduled to interview Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians on Wednesday. Telesco, previously the Colts’ vice president of football operations, called Arians on Tuesday morning and told him the Chargers had hired McCoy.

“It was a tough phone call,” Telesco said. “I have so much respect for Bruce. He’s an excellent football coach. He’s going to be a great head coach in this league. I was honest with him. I said, ‘There’s different situations, different fits, and right now, this is a fit for Mike McCoy.’ He understood.”

McCoy inherits a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since after the 2008 season.

He thanked all the coaches and players he’s worked with over the years for helping him get to this point. He also said he knew just a few minutes into his interview that San Diego was the right place.

“They all laughed at me when I walked in yesterday with this big ol’ bag with all these books and binders and everything,” McCoy said. “Well, that’s my life’s work. We’ve got a detailed plan that Tom and I are going to put together. … There’s going to be some change. There’s a reason for change. And change is good sometimes in organizations. We’ve just got to make the most of the opportunity we have moving forward.”

The Broncos have won consecutive AFC West titles. McCoy tutored quarterbacks Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow in 2011, and had Peyton Manning behind center in 2012.

McCoy, who interviewed with the Miami Dolphins last year after retooling Denver’s offense to the read-option for Tebow at midstream in 2011, burnished his head coaching credentials this season while blending the power formations the Broncos used in leading the league in rushing last year with Tebow and some of the spread formations that Manning ran in Indianapolis.

“I think he’s going to be a great head coach. Very detail-oriented, knows the game, relates with players very well,” Broncos wide receiver Brandon Stokley said.

“Peyton does a lot but Mike is very good at what he does and he did a great job this year, so a lot of credit needs to go to him, also,” Stokley said. “I think that’s what you need to be a head coach — you need to be flexible. You need to do whatever you think is the best for your team to win and you know that’s what he’s done. You saw that last year. Not a lot of offensive coordinators in the NFL like running that kind of offense, but that’s what he did and it was successful.”

McCoy said he was “a bit stubborn” after Tebow was made the starter in 2011, but then realized he needed to change the offense.

“You take advantage of what your players do best,” McCoy said.

With the Chargers, McCoy will work with Philip Rivers, who struggled this season in large part because he was under siege behind a shaky offensive line. Rivers was sacked 49 times and committed 22 turnovers, giving him 47 turnovers in two seasons.

“You go through the disappointment from the season and losing your coach to now having a new GM, new coach, and you get excited and ready to go for this 2013 season,” Rivers said.

“Once I found out that we were bringing him in on Monday, I was hoping he wasn’t going to leave again. I’m excited that was the case and I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Denver swept the Chargers in 2012, including an epic 35-24 victory at San Diego on Oct. 15 when Manning calmly led the Broncos back from a 24-0 halftime deficit.

McCoy was a walk-on quarterback at Long Beach State under coach George Allen. After the 49ers dropped football, he transferred to Utah. He signed with the Broncos as a free agent and spent his rookie season on Green Bay’s practice squad. He had stops in NFL Europe and with San Francisco, Philadelphia and in the CFL. He began his pro coaching career with Carolina before moving to the Broncos in 2009.

McCoy said he learned about detail and preparation from Allen, who coached the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins.

“He was not a big yeller and screamer, he just expected you to go out there and do your job and execute the system the way it was supposed to be executed,” McCoy said.

McCoy said he planned to hire an offensive coordinator to call plays. Turner called his own plays. McCoy was non-committal about defensive coordinator John Pagano, saying he planned to evaluate the entire staff.

The post Mike McCoy takes San Diego Chargers head coach job appeared first on IdealCapper.

The length of the deal is five years, sources told the Associated Press. A news conference to introduce Reid is scheduled for Monday.

The deal reportedly will give the longtime Eagles coach broad authority over football decisions. His deal came hours after the Chiefs announced they had parted with general manager Scott Pioli after four tumultuous seasons.

The Chiefs held a meeting with the coaching staff on Friday morning, presumably to talk about Kansas City’s job search and ongoing talks with Reid, according to sources.

Reid spent 1999-2012 as Philadelphia’s coach, leading the Eagles to the playoffs nine times during that period. He won 130 regular-season games and 10 playoff games. The Chiefs, meanwhile, had 98 wins, three postseason appearances and no postseason wins under five different head coaches, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

“I’m definitely excited. You don’t accidentally win 100 games over 10 years in this league. Obviously, the guy knows how to coach and win. It’s definitely something we need,” Chiefs offensive lineman Eric Winston said on “SVP & Russillo” on ESPN Radio.

Reid will inherit a team that went 2-14, matching the worst record in franchise history. But he’ll also have the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, and with five players voted to the Pro Bowl, Kansas City has building blocks in place to make a quick turnaround.

Reid has experience turning around franchises, too.

He took over a team in Philadelphia that was just 3-13, but two years later went 11-5 and finished second in the NFC East. That began a stretch of five straight years in which Reid won at least 11 games and included a trip to the Super Bowl after the 2004 season.

“Congratulations to Clark Hunt and the Kansas City Chiefs for hiring a good man and a good coach,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said Friday night. “We wish Andy, (wife) Tammy and their entire family all the best in their new home.”

The fresh start afforded by the Chiefs should be welcomed by Reid.

Despite a 130-93-1 record and the most wins in Eagles history, he was just 12-20 in the past two seasons. Reid also dealt with personal tragedy when his oldest son, Garrett, died during training camp after a long battle with drug addiction.

Reid will have more authority in Kansas City than any previous coach. While he will have authority in personnel decisions, it’s expected that he will pursue longtime Packers personnel man John Dorsey to work with him as general manager.

“Congrats Big Red on taking your talents to KC. Big Red fans get ready to cheer on your new boss and new team from 2013 and on. Good Luck,” tweeted former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.

Pioli, 47, joined the Chiefs in 2009 after nine seasons with the Patriots, where he helped to build New England’s dynasty. But he failed to turn around the Chiefs, who were 23-39 in his four seasons, including a woeful 2012 campaign under Romeo Crennel, who was hired to replace Todd Haley during the 2011 season. Crennel was fired Monday.

“I would like to thank Norma, Clark and the Hunt family for the opportunity that they gave me four years ago,” Pioli said. “I’d also like to thank the players, coaches, scouts and countless other employees, throughout the organization and at Arrowhead Stadium that have worked so hard during my time here. I would also like to genuinely thank Chiefs fans.

“The bottom line is that I did not accomplish all of what I set out to do. To the Hunt family — to the great fans of the Kansas City Chiefs — to the players, all employees and alumni, I truly apologize for not getting the job done.”

The Chiefs’ season was marred by a tragic murder-suicide — linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, and then took his own life in the parking lot of Arrowhead Stadium after thanking Pioli and former coach Romeo Crennel for everything they had done for him.

One of Pioli’s first significant moves in 2009 was trading for quarterback Matt Cassel, who’d been impressive as a fill-in for injured Patriots starter Tom Brady. Pioli proceeded to sign Cassel to a six-year, $63 million deal. Cassel didn’t live up to his contract in Kansas City, however, and lost his starting job to Brady Quinn in 2012.

“After several productive conversations, we made the difficult decision to part ways with Scott Pioli and allow him to pursue other opportunities,” Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said in a statement. “Scott has been an invaluable member of the Chiefs family since joining us in 2009, and we sincerely appreciate his tremendous contributions over the last four years.

“I know that this was a difficult decision for Scott as well. He has a great deal of appreciation for the history of this franchise, for our players, coaches and employees, and especially our great fans.”

The Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since 1993. This season was Kansas City’s fifth losing season in six years.

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