The Los Angeles Chargers announced that they have hired former Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley to be their next head coach.
Staley was a relatively unknown name before Sean McVay hired him a year ago, but he quickly became one of the bright young coaching stars in the league after leading the Rams to the No. 1 overall defense in 2020.
At just 38 years of age, Staley becomes the third-youngest head coach in the league behind McVay and Zac Taylor, who was also poached off McVay’s staff to coach the Cincinnati Bengals a couple of years ago.
After taking the Chargers job, Staley spoke about how excited he is to take on this new challenge, via Chargers.com:
“It’s hard to put into words just how excited I am for the opportunity to be the Los Angeles Chargers’ Head Coach,” said Staley. “While this is certainly a dream come true, it’s also a dream that’s just beginning. There’s a reason this was probably the most sought after job out there — from ownership, to the fans, to the city, to the men in that locker room — it’s the total package. I can’t thank the Spanos family and Tom Telesco enough for placing their faith in us, and by the time everyone is reading this quote in a press release, we’ll already be hard at work developing a program Chargers fans everywhere can be proud of.”
Staley will be taking over a team coming off an up-and-down year, finishing 7-9. They do have a quality defense as well as one of the best young quarterbacks in the league in Justin Herbert, which coupled with not having to move out of L.A., had to have made it an attractive job for Staley.
With Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell viewed as a candidate to go to the Chargers with Staley, the Rams are not only in search of a new defensive coordinator but potentially a new offensive coordinator as well.
It remains to be seen if McVay will look outside the organization again to replace Staley, or if some internal candidates like Aubrey Pleasant, Joe Barry or Eric Henderson will be considered.
Losing Staley is tough considering he only was around for one year, but everyone who talks about him knew he was ready for a head coaching opportunity so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
