"The Stack" 1-12-17
The time appears to have come where the Chargers will leave San Diego for Los Angeles according to reports.
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
The Stack is back on this Thursday with a short blog, but it contains plenty of big headlines so let’s get right to it and see what is in “the stack” for today, Thursday, January 12th:
Chargers heading to L.A.
It appears that for a second straight offseason, an NFL team will be leaving the city they called home. Last year it was the Rams leaving St. Louis for Los Angeles. This year, to really no one’s surprise, it will be the Chargers leaving for…you guessed it Los Angeles. Chargers owner Dean Spanos has reportedly informed commissioner Roger Goodell and several NFL owners of his intent, but no relocation papers have been sent or filed to the league. That still leaves a sliver of hope for a new deal with the city of San Diego as local officials haven’t been told anything either. It appears for all intents and purposes though that this will be done with an announcement coming as early as today (Thursday). After the league’s stadium and finance committee meeting on Wednesday, Spanos reportedly let Goodell know of his intent not hearing anything encouraging regarding a stadium solution in San Diego.
This move sucks for Chargers fans and for the city of San Diego, but it isn’t a complete relocation (I'm trying Chargers fans). The team is just moving a little further north so fans can still go to games if they wanted to. It’s just not the same though. At the end of the day, the city and the county dragged their feet through the mud for years and local officials refused to do anything of substance to get a deal done. This is different than the Rams leaving St. Louis. For one, the Rams were not in St. Louis for as long as the Chargers were in San Diego. The Chargers have been in San Diego for over five decades. Both the Rams and Chargers were in Los Angeles before removing to their respective locations only to come back to L.A. Unfortunately for the Chargers, the Rams have a significant edge in the branding of Los Angeles and have a larger slice of the fan base. The Chargers have their work cut out for them which is why staying in San Diego was and is always the preferable choice. Something could still change, but as of this moment, it appears the Chargers will be leaving for Los Angeles. I feel for you Chargers fans. I really do. Lean on Rams fans in St. Louis to help you get through this. At least it is only an hour plus drive north versus several states away.
NFL head coaching moves
The Jacksonville Jaguars removed the interim tag from Doug Marrone’s title and made him their next head coach. Jaguars fans probably weren’t too excited about that, but then the team made former head coach Tom Coughlin executive vice president of football operations so there is some hope for Jaguars fans that the ongoing struggle for this team will turn around.
A couple of other vacancies appear to have filled as well. Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott will be named the next head coach of the Buffalo Bills. This is a bit of a surprise considering all signs pointed to offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn getting the job. Now it doesn’t sound like he will even stick around with the team. The Bills will continue their drought of not making the playoffs I feel like with this hire.
The Denver Broncos have also filled their vacant head coach position with Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. He was a hot candidate and the work he did with the Dolphins defense this year was impressive. He comes into a pretty good situation in Denver with the defense the Broncos have. There are even reports that former Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McCoy would be the offensive coordinator. His name has also surfaced in Buffalo.
The remaining head coaching jobs are all in California with the Rams, Chargers and 49ers still looking.
College basketball headlines
The number team, to few people’s surprise, went down Tuesday night when Baylor, number one for the first time in their history lost on the road at West Virginia 89-68. Their defense and the way they can force teams into turnovers is awfully impressive.
Also on Tuesday, Duke got blown out by Florida State 88-72 with Grayson Allen once again making headlines for shoving a Florida State assistant coach while going for a loose ball. This one probably isn’t quite as egregious as some of his prior actions, but it is still noteworthy how Allen always finds himself in these situations. One other thing to note though is that Florida State is really good. They have caught a lot of people by surprise. This is a team that can make a deep tournament run. We’ll talk about them more as the season continues.
UNC survived a scare from Wake Forest on the road Wednesday night. They won 93-87 and have been in some dogfights early on in ACC conference play. Something to keep an eye on. They play Florida State this weekend in what should be an epic showdown. We’ll keep talking college basketball as we gear up for March. Love college basketball.
Coming up Friday: NFL Divisional Playoff preview and predictions
