Speculation swirled about Brandon Staley‘s employment status ahead of the Chargers-Jaguars wild-card game and intensified following his team’s 27-point collapse, but the Bolts will keep their head coach for a third season.
Eleventh-year GM Tom Telesco said Staley was never on shaky ground. Rumors connected the Chargers to Sean Payton, who has been connected to that job for a while. The Los Angeles-stationed Fox analyst will need to accept another position or wait for the AFC’s Los Angeles gig to potentially open up, however.
“That was probably more [media] discussion than ours,” Telesco said of Staley’s hot-seat status, via ESPN.com’s Lindsey Thiry. “The front office’s belief in Brandon hasn’t changed. He’s got our belief. Our players believe in him. He’s a tremendous leader.”
The Payton matter has lingered for a while, but the Chargers’ past two games accelerated rumblings of a firing. The Chargers’ decision to play their starters in Week 18 ended up being costly, with Mike Williams suffering a transverse process fracture — an injury discovered late last week — that prevented him from making the trip to Jacksonville.
Los Angeles totaled three second-half points in the third-biggest collapse in playoff history, and the team lost wideout DeAndre Carter during the Jaguars matchup. Staley’s decision to play starters against the Broncos in their regular-season finale was believed to be an organizational decision. Many Chargers staffers knew this was the plan, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who indicated everyone was onboard with Staley’s call. Telesco confirmed as much Thursday. “Brandon kind of mapped out what his plan was and yeah, I’m going to support that,” Telesco said.
The Chargers have made some changes in the wake of that loss. They fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and quarterbacks coach Shane Day. Staley cited the offense needing to reach a new gear, and Telesco said Justin Herbert will have input as to who the team hires as its next play-caller.
While the team is not planning any contract talks with Herbert until after Super Bowl LVII, at least, it will entrust Herbert with contributing to this big-picture decision. Herbert became extension-eligible this month but can be controlled through the 2024 season via the fifth-year option the Bolts will exercise in May.
As for the Chargers’ OC plans, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen notes Frank Reich makes sense as a candidate. Reich was with the Chargers for three seasons under Mike McCoy, and he served as their OC from 2014-15. Reich has booked HC interviews with the Cardinals and Panthers. The former Colts HC has ties to each of those teams as well. The Rams have been connected to Reich as a potential OC, making it clear the respected coach will have options.
Lastly, the Chargers fired linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite, Daniel Popper of The Athletic tweets. A former NFL linebacker, Wilhoite had been with the Bolts for two seasons. It was the 36-year-old staffer’s first gig coaching a position. He worked as a lower-level Saints assistant before heading to L.A.
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