text: Chargers fire special teams coordinator Derius Swinton II after one season – Press Enterprise
  Chargers fire special teams coordinator Derius…
  The move comes as a surprise after Swinton made improvements to a unit that mightily struggled the prior season
  Chargers special teams coordinator Derius Swinton II, seen during a 20-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 19, 2021, at SoFi Stadium, has been let go after one season. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
  PUBLISHED: January 14, 2022 at 9:21 a.m. | UPDATED: January 14, 2022 at 2:27 p.m.
  Chargers coach Brandon Staley informed Swinton of his decision Thursday. The Chargers also fired assistant special teams coach Mayur Chaudhari. The team confirmed both coaching moves.
  The changes came as a surprise after Swinton made improvements to a unit that mightily struggled the prior season.
  Swinton delivered positive results, but perhaps not enough to offset differences with Staley on coaching philosophy and teaching methods.
  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.
  Last season, the Chargers ranked last in special teams DVOA (-11.8%) and weighted DVOA (-12.4%). This season, the Chargers improved to 28th in special teams DVOA (-2.6%) and 18th in weighted DVOA (0.5%) under Swinton's guidance. The Chargers ranked last in both categories between 2019 to 2020.
  The Chargers started the 2021 season with poor punt coverage, stagnant return games and kicking woes. Kicker Tristan Vizcaino missed five extra-point attempts in the first six games of the season before being replaced by Hopkins.
  Hopkins made 18 of 20 field-goal attempts and 30 of 32 extra-point attempts in 11 games with the Chargers. Hopkins, however, had a costly missed 51-yard field-goal attempt in the third quarter of last week's loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, which eliminated the Chargers from playoff contention.
  Roberts also had a costly mistake in Las Vegas with a lost fumble on a punt return in the first quarter, but his arrival at the bye week gave special teams a jolt in multiple areas. Roberts recorded the team's first kickoff return touchdown in nearly 10 years in Week 17 against the Denver Broncos, and was named to the Associated Press' All-Pro second-team as a kick returner.
  The Chargers took their lumps in the first half of season with an inexperienced group, but saw progress from rookies Nick Niemann, Amen Ogbongbemiga, Chris Rumph II and a handful of other young players who formed special teams for most of the year.
  One area where the Chargers didn't see much progress was with punter Ty Long and his coverage team. The team ended the season ranked last under the punt category for special teams DVOA with a -14.7. The New England Patriots had the second-worst rating for punting with a -9.4.
  Swinton will likely see other opportunities after building a special teams unit from the ground floor. As for the Chargers, they opted for a clean slate with hopes of seeing drastic improvements in Year 2 of the Staley era.
  CHARGERS' ALL-PROS
  Rookie left tackle Rashawn Slater, center Corey Linsley and Roberts were named to the Associated Press 2021 NFL All-Pro Second-Team on Friday.
  Slater, the Chargers' 13th overall pick in the draft, finished second with two All-Pro votes behind San Francisco's Trent Williams, who received 46 of the 50 votes.
  Linsley, the Chargers' prized free-agent acquisition from Green Bay, was named an All-Pro for the second consecutive season. He received 11 votes to finish second to Philadelphia's Jason Kelce, who had 21 votes.
  Roberts, who joined the Chargers after being cut by the Houston Texans, received 13 votes and was behind the Jets' Braxton Berrios, who had 27 votes. Roberts was also named an All-Pro last season and in 2018 with the Bills and Jets.
  Chargers star safety Derwin James surprisingly wasn't one of the five safeties named to the two All-Pro teams. James, a starter for the 2022 Pro Bowl, received five All-Pro votes.
  Tennessee's Kevin Byard and Buffalo's Jordan Poyer were the first-team All-Pro safeties with Denver's Justin Simmons, Buffalo's Micah Hyde, Arizona's Budda Baker formed the second team.