Ramsdell and Hunter join Chargers’ staff

By Julie Eguchi  |   Wednesday, February 08, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

San Diego Chargers
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San Diego Chargers' head coach Marty Schottenheimer recently announced two new additions to his coaching staff; John Ramsdell has signed on as the quarterbacks coach while Hal Hunter will assist with the offensive line. Ramsdell is taking over the position formerly held by Brian Schottenheimer, who left to become the offensive coordinator of the New York Jets. Hunter will work with newly-named offensive line coach John Henry.

Ramsdell comes to the team from the St. Louis Rams, where he spent the last 11 seasons coaching various position players, including quarterbacks. During that time, he made a name for himself as a man who had a knack for player development. Three of his former pupils, Trent Green, Kurt Warner, and Marc Bulger, have experienced tremendous success in the NFL. Green is a two-time Pro Bowler with career stats that rank alongside guys like Manning and Favre in some categories. Warner had a storybook career in St. Louis, going from a grocery store clerk to two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP, and three-time Pro Bowler under Ramsdell's tutelage. Bulger has also excelled in the Rams' offensive scheme, and consistently has one of the highest yards-per-attempt averages in the NFL.

The San Diego Chargers organization hopes that Ramsdell will have the same kind of effect on Drew Brees and backups A.J. Feeley and Philip Rivers. Brees had a breakout season in 2004, throwing for 3,159 yards and 27 touchdowns against only seven interceptions as he led the Chargers to a postseason berth. Brees' 104.8 passer rating was the third-best in the league that year. And while Brees improved his total yards to 3,576 in 2005, it took him 100 more attempts to do so. He also threw fewer touchdowns (24), more interceptions (15), and had a lower passer rating (89.2). The 2006 season will be a crucial one in Brees' career as he is coming off shoulder surgery to repair an injury sustained in the Chargers' season finale against Denver. Ramsdell is likely to play a key role in Brees' comeback attempt.

Hunter's acceptance of the assistant offensive line coach position marks his first foray into professional coaching. Since 1982 he has been involved with a number of college programs, including William & Mary, the University of Pittsburgh, Lousiana State, Indiana University, and most recently, North Carolina. Hunter has had a chance to coach a number of outstanding up-and-comers. Two of the most notable are Antwaan Randle El (Indiana) and Alan Faneca (LSU), both of whom will be collecting Super Bowl rings as members of the Pittsburgh Steelers championship team.

Hunter and Henry clearly have a lot of work to do as the offensive line was one of the biggest weaknesses for San Diego last season. The Chargers gave up 31 sacks in 2005 after giving up just 20 in 2004. The team also experienced a decline in average rushing yards per game, going from 136.6 yards in 2004 to 129.5 yards in 2005. The low point of the season came in the Week 7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles when the Chargers were limited to just 21 net rushing yards as a team. Pro Bowler LaDainian Tomlinson was held to 7 yards on 17 carries, which is the lowest single-game output of his career to date.
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