Los Angeles Chargers fire head coach Brandon Staley
The Los Angeles Chargers have fired head coach Brandon Staley, according to multiple reports from NFL insiders. He took over in 2021 and spent three seasons in the role. General manager Tom Telesco has also been fired, per the reports.
Staley, 41, had a 24-24 record during his time in Los Angeles, and he only had one playoff appearance under his belt. His tenure started with a 9-8 mark in 2021 and he made his first playoff appearance in 2022 with a 10-7 record. That put the Chargers in the AFC Wild Card game, and they led the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-0 at one point.
However, that lead eventually evaporated, and Los Angeles eventually fell 31-30. That sent Staley into his third season with some criticism, and it didn’t seem to slow down considering the Chargers’ struggles — particularly on defense.
Los Angeles entered its Thursday Night Football matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders ranked 29th in total yards and passing yards allowed.
Staley played quarterback at Mercyhurst College and got his coaching start as a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois before some time at the high school and JUCO levels. He then joined Tennessee as a graduate assistant in 2012 before stints with John Carroll and James Madison from 2014-16.
In 2017, Staley got his first NFL opportunity as the Chicago Bears’ outside linebackers coach under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. He spent two years in Chicago before following Fangio to Denver to serve as the Broncos’ outside linebackers coach in 2019.
Then, Staley got his first NFL defensive coordinator opportunity with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020, leading a unit that ranked led the league in total defense. That helped get him the Chargers opportunity.
Questions swirled about Brandon Staley’s standing with the Chargers all season
Staley has faced a few questions about his future this year, but previously said he hasn’t had any conversations with ownership about his job status. He also dealt with questions about whether he’d continue calling plays on defense, and in November, he made it clear he planned to continue doing so despite giving the same answer.
“You can stop asking that question,” Staley said, via Pro Football Talk. “I’m going to be calling the defenses, so we’re clear. So you don’t have to ask that again.”
Still, the calls continued to grow louder, and amid the Raiders’ blowout of the Chargers on Dec. 14, Amazon Prime’s Richard Sherman didn’t think Staley should’ve been allowed to coach the second half.
“Man, this is one of the worst first halves I’ve seen from a team,” Sherman said as the Raiders held a 42-0 lead. “It looks like they’ve given up, they’ve quit. They’ve packed their bags, they’ve packed all their suitcases, they booked their vacations and they’re ready to go.
“Brandon Staley, I hate to say this because you don’t ever want to call for somebody’s job. But they should make history. They should fire it at halftime. They should just [say], ‘Hey, we’ve got an UberX carpool outside, and we’ll send you on your way.’ Because right now, I’ve never seen a team come out this uninspired.”