The Chargers made a pivotal decision yesterday in hiring Tom Telesco as the team’s new General Manager.
Now it’s time for him to make an equally important hire.
The first task for Telesco is to find a head coach. That is his number one priority right now. In fact, the search has already begun.
“We need to find a head coach,” he said. “That is number one. We are already working on that. Like I said, our lists are pretty similar which is great. We are a little bit ahead of the game. But first and foremost is to find a head coach, get the assistant coaches in order, decide what we are going to run offensively and defensively then go from there… We will get to work right now. I’m probably going to stay in town and have my wife send some clothes so we can get this head coach search underway.”
Telesco will not only join the same foursome who conducted the GM search (President Dean Spanos, Ed McGuire, John Spanos and Ron Wolf); he will be heading it up.
“He is leading the process,” said Dean Spanos. “We’ll all be there, but ultimately it will be his decision at the end of the day.”
Telesco is not limiting himself in the search and is setting no restrictions on the type of candidates he wants to interview.
“There’s no parameter as far as head coaching experience,” he said. “No head coaching experience on either side of the ball. No parameters there. We’re looking for a good teacher, a coach who can communicate, not only with the fans, but with us and with the players. We’re looking for a leader. The head coach is basically the CEO of the players and the coaching staff. It is a big operation. It doesn’t matter to me where he comes from, whether it’s offense or defense or not.”
Similarly, there will be no limitations on how long it takes to find the best man for the job. But ideally they would like to get it done relatively quickly.
“There is no timetable on it,” said Telesco. “It is one of those where you want to get moving quickly but you don’t want to rush it either. We are a little bit into the process but there is no timetable on it now.”
During the interview process, one of the main factors in finding the top candidate will be the vision the potential coach has for the team. For Telesco, it’s important they share the same philosophies to work together hand in hand.
“It has to be a partnership,” he said. “That is what it is. You are with them all day long. You are making decisions all throughout the day. It is really a partnership and you have to have a good relationship with that person.”
Tom Telesco has been the Chargers General Manager for just 24 hours, but he already is working on what will be one of the most important decisions he makes as the leader of this team. Stay tuned to Chargers.com throughout the process for information on the head coaching search.
