SAN DIEGO -- Mike McCoy's interview with San Diego went so well that both sides felt he was a perfect fit to become the Chargers' new coach.

McCoy had one thing to do, though, before accepting the Chargers' offer, so it was a good thing Chargers president Dean Spanos' private plane was at his disposal.

"There was no doubt in my mind when I got back on that plane to go back home," said McCoy, the former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator who was introduced Tuesday as Chargers' new coach. "They wanted to keep me here last night. But I said, 'I've got to talk to my wife about this before.' If I made the decision without talking to my wife, I might get in a little trouble."

So McCoy flew back to Denver to talk it over with his wife, Kellie. McCoy, his wife and their two children were back on the same plane Tuesday morning, flying back to San Diego to take the job.

"Without a doubt, we knew this was the place we wanted to be," said McCoy, who signed a four-year contract.

McCoy replaces Norv Turner, who was fired along with general manager A.J. Smith after the Chargers finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the third straight season.

The move comes three days after the top-seeded Broncos were eliminated from the playoffs in a double-overtime home loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

The 40-year-old McCoy is the same age as Tom Telesco, who was hired as general manager last week. He interviewed after the Chargers already had talked to Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, fired head coaches Lovie Smith and Ken Whisenhunt, and Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.

"Once he came in and once we saw how good he was, we just felt we had to have him now," Telesco said of McCoy. "We had to get it done or we'd lose him."

"He was polished, prepared, had great questions, which I think is big, too, that he had a lot of questions for us. It's a partnership between the GM and the head coach, through and through. We spend more time with each other during the season than we do with our own family, so it's got to be a tight relationship. When he came in, after a little bit of time, you could tell he was the right guy for us. We went after him hard."

San Diego was scheduled to interview Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians on Wednesday. Telesco, previously the Colts' vice president of football operations, called Arians on Tuesday morning and told him the Chargers had hired McCoy.

"It was a tough phone call," Telesco said. "I have so much respect for Bruce. He's an excellent football coach. He's going to be a great head coach in this league. I was honest with him. I said, 'There's different situations, different fits, and right now, this is a fit for Mike McCoy.' He understood."

McCoy inherits a team that hasn't won a playoff game since after the 2008 season.

He thanked all the coaches and players he's worked with over the years for helping him get to this point. He also said he knew just a few minutes into his interview that San Diego was the right place.