In what seems like a long-overdue move, Brandon Staley has been relieved of his head coaching duties with the Los Angeles Chargers. From the beginning, his coaching tenure has been riddled with questionable coaching decisions and bad losses.
To have a team loaded with talent and to underperform like the Chargers did falls on the coach for being incompetent and failing to establish a culture. Finishing with a record of 24-24 in 48 regular-season games and only reaching the playoffs once in three years is unacceptable.
Making the playoffs once in three years is bad enough when you have a team loaded with future Hall of Famers in multiple positions, but winning 27-7 at halftime in the wildcard round and blowing that lead to a young and up-and-coming Jaguars is just downright bad. Not to mention, he’s a defensive coach whose defense ranked 23rd in total defense in 2021, 20th in 2022, and 29th in 2023, which is absurd.
They were also ranked near the bottom when it came to points allowed per game. This is another prime example that just because you were a good defensive coordinator or offensive coordinator doesn’t mean you’re going to be a good head coach. We’ve seen guys like Todd Bowles thrive as a great defensive coordinator but struggle as a head coach with the Jets and Buccaneers. Wade Philips, one of the great defensive coordinators this game has seen, also struggled whenever he got head coaching opportunities, or (we were going way back with this one), Marion Campbell, who was one of the most decorated defensive coordinators and coaches of his time but never had a winning record in his 9 years as head coach.
There are a lot more responsibilities that come with being a head coach, and it was obviously too much for Staley to handle. I’m sure he will get another opportunity to go back to being a defensive coordinator in the NFL, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds himself back in college. We saw Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffalos team struggle on defense all season. Maybe he ends up in Boulder.
Whatever ends up happening, I think it’s going to be a while before he gets another head coaching opportunity.
