After a record-setting 63-21 loss to the Antonio Pierce and Aidan O’Connell-led Raiders on Thursday night, Los Angeles announced Friday that Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco had been fired. The interim head coach and general manager are expected to be announced Friday afternoon.
Staley finishes with a 24-24 record as Los Angeles’ head coach, and his tenure will be defined by the way the Chargers performed in big games. A timeout in a Week 18 contest against the Raiders in 2021 allowed Las Vegas more time to kick a game-winning field goal, knocking the Chargers out of playoff contention. Los Angeles made the postseason the following year, opening a 27-0 lead over the Jaguars before falling victim to one of the worst playoff collapses of all time. It seemed like they never shook the funk that loss put them in, and a 5-9 record through Week 15 was bad enough to force the franchise to fire a coach midseason for the first time since Kevin Gilbride was let go in 1998.
A former defensive coordinator with the Rams, Staley was hired as one of the brightest young minds in the game, a reversal of the conservative Anthony Lynn era. Staley’s first season on the job was marked by fourth-down discourse, as Staley continuously was one of the most aggressive coaches in the league in those situations. It paid dividends for Los Angeles, whose defense was 29th in points allowed in 2021.
With money to burn entering 2022, the Chargers brought in a number of players with ties to Staley to try to fix their defensive issues. Sebastian Joseph-Day got a hefty contract. Los Angeles traded a second-round pick for Khalil Mack. J.C. Jackson signed a massive deal to emulate Jalen Ramsey’s role with the Rams when Staley was defensive coordinator. The defense improved in points allowed but was the worst in the history of the league at stopping the run. Jackson had ankle surgery before the season and then tore his patellar tendon.
Entering 2023, the Chargers kept most things the same on defense. Jackson played poorly and then refused to enter a game after he was benched, resulting in his release. Joseph-Day and new linebacker Eric Kendricks have not played up to their name value. Young players have not developed. On the offensive side of the ball, optimism abounded about coordinator Kellen Moore, only for players to either regress or get injured as well.
That all brings us to Friday, the end of Staley’s tenure. A defensive head coach who had individual games of greatness (see: 2022 Miami), but never a season of even above-average play after adding players familiar with his system. An aggressive head coach who got less aggressive as his tenure went on.
For Telesco, the firing marks the end of a decade-long run as Chargers general manager. Hired in 2013 after serving as the Colts’ vice president of football operations, Telesco was the youngest general manager hire in Chargers history, promising to build the team through the draft and supplement the roster with free agent additions.
Building through the draft never quite worked for this regime. Keenan Allen, a third-round pick in Telesco’s first season, set a positive tone. But Telesco missed on D.J. Fluker, Jason Verrett, Jerry Tillery and Kenneth Murray in the first round and failed to find the same level of contribution in the middle and late rounds as other teams around the league. When those players did pan out, like Drue Tranquill, Kyzir White or Hunter Henry, they were allowed to hit free agency.
General managers rarely get four swings at head coaching hires. Telesco began his tenure with Mike McCoy, then moved on to Anthony Lynn. His final swing was Brandon Staley.
The Chargers will now make over their leadership team heading into a season in which they are $42 million over the salary cap with big decisions to make about every player outside Justin Herbert and Rashawn Slater.