Updated 6:07 p.m.
Three days after head coach Norv Turner gave him a vote of confidence, the Chargers have fired defensive coordinator Greg Manusky on Thursday. Later in the day, they replaced him with John Pagano, who was promoted from linebackers coach.
Manusky spent one season with the Chargers after four seasons with the 49ers in the same role. San Diego struggled this season rushing the quarterback and getting key stops at the end of games, and the unit finished 16th in yards per game allowed after ranking first at the end of the 2010 season.
Pagano has spent the last 10 years on the San Diego coaching staff and has coached the linebackers since 2005.
The team will now be have their fourth defensive coordinator since Turner became head coach in 2007. However, both Wade Phillips and Ron Rivera left to become head coaches, not because of poor performance like Manusky.
The way we see it
Change was inevitable after the team's poor 2011 season, and after announcing that both Turner and GM A.J. Smith would be returning, the only obvious move to make was for Manusky to depart. Pagano is well-liked in the team's locker room and could have a similar affect to what his brother Chuck had in Baltimore this season.