SAN DIEGO -- Starting Monday, the San Diego Chargers begin the process of hiring the 16th head coach in franchise history.

The Chargers have experienced the highs of Bobby Ross leading the organization to a Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 1994 season and the lows of eight straight non-winning seasons from 1996 to 2003.

After he failed to lead the franchise to the postseason for a third straight season, the Chargers fired Mike McCoy following the team’s season-ending loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Obviously, we need to get healthy,” San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers said when asked about his team’s prospects for next season. “We need the injured guys to be well. I need to play better, and I think, collectively, we need to get tougher. I think with those three things, we have a chance to be really good.”

A tough-minded taskmaster who can figure out a way to keep San Diego’s playmakers on the field and get Rivers back to playing efficient football? That sounds like as good a blueprint as any for Chargers president of football operations John Spanos and general manager Tom Telesco to follow.

Here are five candidates who could meet those qualifications:

Mike Smith's previous head-coaching experience might make him a viable candidate for the vacant San Diego job. Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire

Rich Bisaccia: The Dallas Cowboys' special-teams coordinator and assistant head coach, Bisaccia could help fix San Diego’s woeful special teams. Bisaccia, 56, also has experience in the Chargers organization, as he served as the team’s special-teams coordinator and assistant head coach in 2011 and 2012.

Vance Joseph: One of the hot defensive coordinator candidates, Joseph has done an excellent job rebuilding Miami’s defense. Joseph, 44, played two seasons as a defensive back in the NFL and spent 11 seasons as a secondary coach for the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals before Adam Gase hired him as defensive coordinator of the Dolphins for the 2016 season.

Doug Marrone: He’s serving as the Jacksonville Jaguars' interim head coach and was Bill Polian’s choice to stay with the Buffalo Bills in 2015, had the Hall of Fame front-office man returned to the NFL to take over as the head of Buffalo’s personnel department. Polian, of course, is Telesco’s mentor, and the two remain close. Marrone, 52, finished 15-17 in two seasons as the Bills coach from 2013 to 2014 but opted out of his contract after the team came under new ownership.

Ron Rivera: The Panthers have Rivera signed through the 2018 season, and he appears to be comfortable in Carolina. However, perhaps Rivera could be had in a trade, if the Panthers want to move on after a disappointing 6-10 campaign. Rivera, 54, spent four seasons with the Chargers as the team’s linebackers coach and defensive coordinator and has a good relationship with the Spanos family.

Mike Smith: Tampa Bay’s defense has improved under Smith's direction as the team’s defensive coordinator. Smith, 57, finished with a 66-46 record in seven seasons as the coach of the Atlanta Falcons and led them to the NFC Championship game at the end of the 2012 season.