Young Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley has been linked to head-coaching jobs over the past several weeks. Just recently, it was noted that the 38-year-old assistant was set to interview for vacancies with the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles.
Well, Staley never made it to Pennsylvania. One day after his Rams were eliminated from the NFL playoffs, Staley has already reportedly agreed to become the Chargers’ next head coach.
“The Chargers are hiring Rams DC Brandon Staley as their new head coach, sources tell me and Tom Pelissero. An impressive young candidate, he gets a prime job in LA,” NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday evening.
That was a relatively quick process right there. As Rapoport noted, Staley had his second interview with the Chargers on Sunday and was almost immediately hired.
This comes after just one season as a defensive play-caller in the NFL. Before his stint with the Rams, Staley had served as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bears (2017-18) and Denver Broncos (2019). It’s a meteoric rise for the up-and-coming coach.
Impact of the Chargers hiring Staley
In addition to the Eagles and Chargers, he was drawing interest from the downtrodden Houston Texans -- for good reason.
This past regular season, Staley led the Rams to No. 1 overall rankings in yards and points allowed. That’s no small feat considering he was tasked with replacing the legendary Wade Phillips as the defensive coordinator in Los Angeles.
Staley now joins a Chargers team that has building blocks on defense. That includes stud edge rusher Joey Bosa and injury-plagued former All-Pro safety Derwin James. Working under new Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, the Los Angeles defense ranked in the top 10 in yards allowed, but was in the bottom 10 in points allowed.
Who will be Staley’s assistants with the Chargers?
Now that the Chargers have settled on a defensive-minded head coach, the goal here will be to build a proven and talented coaching staff on offense. It’s not dissimilar to the Jets hiring former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh last week. Saleh brought some assistants on offense with him to Jersey. Expect the same from Staley in Los Angeles. That’s especially true with young quarterback Justin Herbert under center.
Rams run-game coordinator Aaron Kromer has experience as an offensive coordinator in the NFL. Pass-game coordinator Shane Waldron could also be an option to call plays with the Chargers.
It’s also important to note that former Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich led a ninth-ranked Bears scoring offense when he was on the same staff in Chicago with Staley back in 2018.
More must-reads: