The off-season is here for your Los Angeles Chargers, and while we'd like some parts of this team to remain, a lot will be different in 2024. To point out the obvious, LA will have a new general manager and head coach, along with new players and possibly new coordinators.
Coaches come and go every season, but according to AP Sports writer Joe Reedy, LA's special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken is a must-keep for the Bolts.
Just catching up on the @RickGosselin9 Special Teams rankings. Whoever the new #Chargers coach is, keeping Ryan Ficken is a must. Special Teams has gone from a raging dumpster fire (31st in 2020 and '21) to one of the top units in the league. 7th in 2022, 5th this season.
— Joe Reedy (@joereedy) January 17, 2024
The Bolts have expressed the need to keep Ficken. The Chargers blocked the New York Giants from interviewing Ficken for their special team's vacant job.
Ficken has undoubtedly done an excellent job with the Bolts in his first two seasons. He led the Chargers in 2023 after leading the unit to a turnaround in 2022 and has ranked among the NFL's best for the past two seasons.
The 43-year-old coordinator has led his unit by allowing 3.1 yards per punt return, the best average LA has allowed in 50 years. He also oversaw the AFC's top kicking unit, making 31-of-33 field goals and leading them to a 93.9 field goal percentage, which ranked second in 2022.
Ficken started his coaching career at UCLA as a graduate assistant. He spent 15 years with the Minnesota Vikings from 2007 to 2021 as an assistant running backs coach, assistant wide receiver coach, assistant special teams coach, and special teams coordinator.
He was around the Vikings for a long time, and now the Chargers want him to stick around LA for a long time.