Fernando Ramirez, The Sporting Tribune Chargers Reporter

Fernando, thank you for taking the time to join us.

Thank you so much for having me on. Most certainly. I guess the first question on everybody's mind, what's the latest? Are we moving towards a done deal with Jim Harbaugh as the next head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers? Well, I think that over the weekend they said four to six second interviews were going to happen, but as of right now it's only been Jim. So at this point it seems like the Chargers have zeroed in on their guy, but now they need to close the deal and get them in there because they need something like this. In the last three times that they've had head coach openings, they've gotten Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn, and Brandon Staley. No head coaching experience from either three of those guys, and in three to four seasons all of them were out the door.

So they need somebody with head coaching experience. Jim Harbaugh, as we all know, he's hungry for a Super Bowl. He has won a national championship, but we all know the hunger to win a Super Bowl is there. He has not won one. He lost one to his brother when he was a member of the 49ers as their head coach.

So now I'm sure he wants to win one, and what perfect way to do it than with Justin Herbert being his quarterback. Fernando Ramirez is here with us, covers all things Chargers for the Sporting Tribune. We have heard on his way out of the door prior to Michigan leaving the 49ers that he wanted more power, that he wanted more influence. Knowing that the Chargers right now also are looking for a general manager, is there a possibility that Jim Harbaugh gets that power with the Chargers? Well, that's where this is all coming to because they've basically interviewed a lot of guys, a lot of people that Jim has been connected to, whether it be with his brother or him himself. We all know that Tom Tolesco was hired today by the Las Vegas Raiders, and that leaves Ed Dobbs wide open, the assistant general manager of the Colts, who has a history with Jim Harbaugh back at the time with the Raiders.

So that leaves him wide open. Ian Cunningham, another guy who, he was with the Baltimore Ravens, he's the Bears assistant general manager, he's been with the Ravens before. Brandon Brown, who's assistant GM with the Giants, another guy who's been with the Ravens. So it seems like if Jim Harbaugh is the head coach, he will get to pick his general manager as well. So it seems like he wouldn't have taken the meeting if the Chargers wouldn't have already said, you know what Jim, yeah, we're going to do, we see it your way, we're going to let you do this, we're going to let you do that.

So it seems like he wouldn't have taken the meeting if all those things weren't already in place. So as of right now, it seems that the Chargers are playing Harbaugh ball. So now it's all about getting everything ironed out, but I'm sure he wants to stay in scouting, analytics, nutrition, everything because of everything. Well, to this point, we know the Chargers have had a lot of injuries.

The Chargers have had a lot of things in the past that hasn't gone their way. Well, I'm sure Jim is going to want to change a lot of those things. So he's going to want to stay in a lot of that stuff. But when it comes to general manager and all that stuff, as far as player personnel and all that stuff, I'm sure Jim will let the general manager do his thing. But at the same time, I'm sure it'll be a good relationship unlike the first time when it was him and Trent Bulky up at the 49ers where they had a lot of issues back in when he was with the 49ers.

Well, Fernando, let me ask you this. You mentioned Tom Silesco, you know, being let go by the Chargers and he gets picked up to now run of the Raiders. There is no disputing how much talent that the Chargers have had on their roster over the past few years. But it seems like everyone gets hurt. It doesn't matter if it's Derwin James or we got to look at Bolsa.

There is always something. So what has been the Chargers biggest issue over the past few years, whether it's Anthony Lin years or you want to look at Brandon Staley? Has it been coaching, clock management, injuries?

How the hell does Tilesco get a new job? Oh, JR, you're asking a lot of the questions that a lot of people on Twitter are asking. But I mean, first off, let me just say Tom is a great person and everything. But when you look at all that stuff, they never won the division under Tom. It's always been either the Broncos or the Chiefs that have won the division. They only made the playoffs three times under Tom Tilesco.

So that's a little bit concerning. The other thing that not a lot of people are talking about the depth on the Chargers. Yes, you have the superstars, but where is the depth on these teams? They don't have that depth. Look at the Rams. A lot of people thought, wow, the Rams are going to take a long time to rebuild after that Super Bowl run. And bam, they're already back in the playoffs.

Why? Because they know how to draft depth. That was a big issue with Tom Tilesco.

The third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh round, those have been tough, tough rounds for Tom Tilesco to draft at. They're serviceable players, but they're not players that last a long time. He has not been able to find those players that turn into stars or even are great backs or even players that turn into superstars later. You've seen these players turn into later. He has not had a player like that. The only player that you can mention is Austin Eckler, undrafted free agent.

But other than that, you just don't have anything like that. So that's been the biggest concern, in my opinion, in the Tom Tilesco era. But I guess Mark Davis wanted to go with the veteran general manager instead of Ed Dobbs, who was sitting right there. Now he just basically handed him over to the Chargers. If a Harbaugh thing comes through, he basically handed him over to division rival. And another thing is, Champ Kelly had done a good job at interim, and now he's going to have to kind of sit back and work with Tom Tilesco unless he decides to leave. But definitely, I know a lot of people are giving Tom a lot of credit for everything that he's done. He's done a good job.

But let's also not sugarcoat it, like there has been some negatives as well. Without a shadow of a doubt, the Raiders are always going to do something interesting, and this is the latest interesting move that they've done. They wouldn't be Raider Nation if they wouldn't. You're right. I mean, adding Antonio Pierce, allowing him to stay, I guess that made too much sense, so they had to bring in somebody else that just got fired. That's the craziest part.

My bad, real quick. But that's the craziest part. You didn't even bring in your general manager first to kind of have a say in the head coach. You decided to coach first, and then you brought in the general manager. Mark Davis did a lot of good at first, and then it's like he's thrown in a lot of weirdness now. I mean, what can you expect from a guy that sits at the slot machines and eats at In-N-Out Burger just hanging out there like a regular Joe?

And he goes to Fantastic Sam's or Supercuts, I don't know. He's a strange cat, I guess. Yeah, that's what happens when daddy leaves you some money.

That's just what happens. Fernando Ramirez is joining us from the Sporting Tribune, covers all things Chargers. To wrap things up on the Chargers' side, this was kind of thrown out over the last 24 hours as well, just as we started to hear about Harbaugh potentially being locked in with the Chargers. Pete Carroll's name got thrown around.

Now, was this like a last-ditch, you know, flying ointment? What the hell does Pete Carroll have to do with any of this? Well, I'm sure that Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick are very surprised right now with everything going on. I mean, they're two of the most successful head coaches in NFL history, and not a lot of teams are really looking for them or in need of their services, and I'm sure they're kind of looking around and going, Yo, like, I've won eight Super Bowls, six as a head coach, two as a D.C., and then Pete Carroll's like, I've won a bunch of national championships, and I've won a Super Bowl in the NFL.

Like, why is nobody looking at us for these jobs? So I'm sure that they're kind of stunned by this. I'm sure that had to have been kind of a Pete Carroll, PR stunt, I'm sure, because the Chargers, as of what I've heard and I've seen, they haven't even had a meeting with Pete Carroll.

So that was definitely an interesting name being thrown out there. But, yeah, I'm sure that both he and Bill Belichick are stunned that teams have not looked their way at all, or not at all, because Bill's obviously had a meeting or two with the Atlanta Falcons, but I'm sure they're just stunned that teams have not looked their way when it comes to these jobs, and I'm sure they're kind of like, Yo, like, come on, we've done this before, we've won. Why don't you bring us in? Some of these guys are inexperienced, they don't know how to win, but it seems like Dean Spanos has his eyes on his former quarterback to now be his head coach, so it seems like that's where he's leaning, so I'm sure, unless something crazy happens, that's kind of where I think we're all headed. Okay.

Looks like Jim Harbaugh might end up with these Los Angeles Chargers as their new head coach. He will certainly keep you updated as things continue to move on. Fernando, I want to thank you for taking the time to hop on here with us on CBS Sports Radio. Where can people follow you as you continue to cover this news? I appreciate it, JR, for you having me on. I'm on X or Twitter, whatever you want to call it, on Instagram, and even on TikTok, at RealFRamirez. So, yeah, people can find me on there, and I definitely appreciate you having me on. Anytime you need me, I'm always available, so thank you again.