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Chargers interim coach Giff Smith talks to the media after practice Tuesday at the Chargers Hoag Performance Center in Costa Mesa. (Joe Reedy / Associated Press)
He stepped before the assembled media Tuesday for the first time as an interim NFL head coach and sounded as if he was ready for the assignment.
Well, almost.
“I wish that I would’ve lost some weight a few weeks back,” Giff Smith said, smiling. “That would have been a positive. I wasn’t expecting this.”
He opened with a joke, the Chargers’ latest leader did, Smith making his news conference debut after leading the team through its first practice since Brandon Staley was fired Friday.
Read more: Chargers ownership insists money won’t be a limiting factor in coach and GM search
In his eighth year with the team, Smith was promoted from coaching edge rushers to guiding the 5-9 Chargers through their final three games.
A former defensive end out of Georgia Southern, Smith began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Arkansas in 1991. He has been in the NFL since joining the staff in Buffalo in 2010.
“I’ve been in this game a while and there are always new things that come up,” said Smith, 55. “You just roll with it. You give to these players. You give to this organization. Then, whatever happens, happens.”
The Chargers play at SoFi Stadium on Saturday night against the Bills, then finish against Denver on the road and Kansas City at home. They opened the season with lofty expectations but sit 13th in the AFC.
Staley and general manager Tom Telesco were fired hours after the Chargers lost 63-21 at Las Vegas, the team’s fifth defeat in six games. Staley was in his third year with the Chargers and Telesco his 11th.
Read more: News Analysis: Who might Chargers pursue to coach? Some familiar names are surfacing
“It definitely was sad because when you’re going through something with somebody for three years, it’s tough,” safety Derwin James Jr. said. “You always think about the good…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/just-roll-chargers-interim-coach-011628351.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2023-12-20 01:16:28
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