The Los Angeles Chargers’ off-season has begun, and although we hope to see members of this club stay, a lot will change in 2024. To state the obvious, LA will have new players, perhaps new coordinators, a new general manager, and a new head coach.
Every season, coaches change, but LA’s Ryan Ficken, the coordinator of special teams, is someone the Bolts absolutely must have on staff, according to AP Sports writer Joe Reedy.
The Bolts have stated that they must retain Ficken. The Chargers prevented Ficken from being interviewed by the New York Giants for the special team’s open position.
Without a doubt, in his first two seasons with the Bolts, Ficken has performed admirably. After leading the team to a turnaround in 2022, he led the Chargers in 2023. Over the previous two seasons, he has been among the best in the NFL.
The coordinator, who is 43 years old, has guided his team by allowing the best average in 50 years—3.1 yards per punt return—to LA. In addition, he managed the best kicking unit in the AFC, which finished second in 2022 with a 93.9 field goal percentage after making 31 of 33 field goals.
Ficken was a graduate assistant at UCLA when he began his coaching career. From 2007 to 2021, he worked for the Minnesota Vikings for 15 years, serving as the team’s coordinator of special teams, wide receiver coach, assistant running backs coach, and assistant special teams coach.
After spending many years with the Vikings, the Chargers now want him to remain in Los Angeles for an extended period of time.
