Chargers interview New York Giants’ Thomas McGaughey for special teams

The Chargers have started interviewing candidates for the special teams coordinator position.

Thomas McGaughey interviewed with the Chargers on Monday for the vacancy, a source informed the Southern California News Group. McGaughey has been the New York Giants’ special teams coordinator since 2018.

McGaughey, 48, was also a special teams coordinator with the Carolina Panthers (2016-17), San Francisco 49ers (2015) and New York Jets (2014). McGaughey is reportedly in the mix for the Panthers’ special teams coordinator opening.

Last week, the Chargers fired Derius Swinton II after one season as the special teams coordinator. Swinton made progress in many areas after inheriting a special teams unit from the previous coaching regime that was historically bad in 2020, according to analytics website Football Outsiders, which provides a good indicator of where teams stand in certain areas with its DVOA metric.

But perhaps there wasn’t enough progress from Swinton to offset differences with Chargers head coach Brandon Staley on coaching philosophy and teaching methods.

McGaughey worked under two head coaches in New York, first with Pat Shurmur and recently with Joe Judge, who was fired last week.

The Giants’ special teams had a 1.4% DVOA this season under the guidance of McGaughey, which ranked 11th in the NFL. The Chargers’ special teams was listed at 28th with a -2.6% DVOA.

McGaughey’s special teams during his stint with the Giants has ranked as high as third in DVOA (2018) and as low as 17th (2019). The Chargers’ special teams have been ranked near the bottom of DVOA for many seasons.