The Chargers broke ground – and bread – with the media for the 2015 season with a special meet-and-greet session following the team’s second practice Sunday, Aug. 2 at Chargers Park on Murphy Canyon Road in Kearny Mesa.
There was a preview of some new concession offerings this year featuring jalapeño popper topped sliders, spicy Bloody Mary’s and cheesesteak sandwiches.
Chargers general manager Tom Telesco then made introductions noting, “It’s only the second day so we’ve still got some work to do, but the guys are in great shape.”
“They listen to him (McCoy), implicitly,” said Telesco of head coach Mike McCoy, who’s entering his third season at the helm of the Chargers.
“We can’t wait to get back to Qualcomm and play some football. I’m excited about it,” said Telesco before lateraling further comment to McCoy, who thanked the press and the community “for all your support.”
The coach, however, was reticent to discuss the possibility of the Chargers moving to Los Angeles.
 “I’m paid to win games here,” McCoy said. “The Spanos family brought me and Tom here for one reason. And that’s for us to lead the organization and win football games. “I’m worried about tonight’s meetings, tomorrow’s practice, and finding a way to beat Detroit in the opener. That’s all I can control.”
In 2014, the Chargers matched their 9-7 record from the previous year, but unlike 2013, it wasn’t good enough to get them into the playoffs. In 2013 they beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the playoffs, then lost to Super Bowl-bound Denver.
McCoy said that won’t be good enough this year.
“We’ve got to take it to the next level,” he said. “We’ve got to win week in and week out and dominate teams and start blowing teams out. That’s our goal: to energize the city of San Diego and everything with the performance on Sundays.”
Discussing the Chargers top draft pick, running back Melvin Gordon from Wisconsin, McCoy said the team was re-committing itself to improve that position this year.
“This year we’ve got to get back to running the football the way it’s supposed to be run in this league,” he said. “Last year we just didn’t get it done. You saw the way we ran the ball in practice today. That’s the way we want to run it.”
Regarding replacing all-star tight end Antonio Gates, who is suspended the first four games of the season, McCoy said, “It’s an opportunity for other guys (to step up). We have a lot of talent on the offensive side.”
Asked about the fresh crop of receivers that quarterback Phillip Rivers will be tossing to, McCoy commented, “You see somebody like Steve Johnson that we got from San Francisco who had over 1,000 yards a couple of years for Buffalo. You see some of the circus catches he’s making out there, a very explosive player. There’s a lot of depth there. We have a lot of receivers that have some skill that play for us. It’s a quarterback’s dream.”
McCoy was asked how he would react this year to a blowout loss, like the 37-0 drubbing they got in Miami last year.
Noting “every game is a big deal,” McCoy went on to say that you shake any loss off and move forward.
“Regardless of whatever else you’re doing, you’re always preparing for the next game,” he said. “As bad as it was there in Miami, we kept on grinding it out. You’re always working to improve the football team regardless of the score.”
McCoy saved his best advice for last.
“The real focus is, we’re trying to get better every single day,” he said. “The key is just to be playing your best football at the end of the year, not the beginning. That’s the big message to the team.”