Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has emerged as a -- if not the -- favorite to land the Los Angeles Chargers' head-coaching job, per league sources.
Daboll is one of nine candidates who has interviewed for the job, and the Chargers are plotting the next steps in their process, which will be influenced by the result of Saturday night's divisional playoff game between the Ravens and Bills.
If the Bills lose, Daboll can meet with the Chargers whenever he wants and accept the job as their head coach if offered. If the Bills win, the Chargers must wait for Daboll to be finished with the postseason before they negotiate.
Daboll would fit many of the traits the Chargers are looking for in their next head coach. He is an offensive-minded coach, learning under some of the best coaches of all time, and he has helped elevate the game and production of Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Daboll would be expected to do the same with Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert.
Plus, there is a great familiarity. Daboll went to St. Francis High School in Buffalo with Chargers general manager Tom Telesco. The two played on the same high school football team, with Daboll two grades behind Telesco. Daboll was a hard-hitting safety, and Telesco was a wide receiver and cornerback.
After their time together in Buffalo, the men followed different paths. Daboll went on to learn his craft at the feet of Bill Belichick in New England and Nick Saban at Alabama before returning home to Buffalo, where he has helped the Bills' offense become one of the best in the league.
Telesco went from St. Francis to learn under then-Colts general manager Bill Polian before landing the Chargers' general manager job.
Now Daboll and Telesco could be teammates again on the opposite coast, in Los Angeles, still trying to win together.