Tag: Brandon Staley fired

The infamous moments that led to Brandon Staley’s departure

There are three distinct moments that will forever define Brandon Staley’s career with the Chargers. 

The Chargers fired Brandon Staley on Friday.

While there are various reasons why Staley was let go, there are three distinct moments that will forever define his career with Los Angeles. 

The controversial timeout. The first notorious occasion of the Staley era was the Week 18 game versus the Raiders in 2021. The matchup was not only against division rivals Las Vegas, but it also had beguiling playoff implications. The Bolts and Raiders both had the opportunity to go to the playoffs–if the game ended in a tie. 

In true Justin Herbert fashion, the talented quarterback led Los Angeles on the game-tying drive by throwing a touchdown on the last play of regulation. Overtime led to a Raiders’ field goal and the Chargers responded with a field goal of their own. The game was tied with 38 seconds left and it looked as though each team would get their fairytale ending. Although the Raiders had the ball, it appeared as though they were setting up to let the clock expire when Staley bizarrely chose to call a timeout. 

His decision to call the timeout led everyone to believe that it was the reason Las Vegas went for the first down which set them up for a field goal. This was further confirmed postgame when NBC’s Michelle Tafoya asked Raiders quarterback Derek Carr if the timeout made a difference and he replied, “It definitely did, obviously.” 

The defensive guru loses at his own game. The second notorious moment in Staley’s career was in the 2022 playoffs. Staley has always been a defensive-minded coach and as the saying goes ‘defense wins championships’ so it seemed that he was exactly what the Chargers needed. 

Nevertheless, Staley’s poor decision-making on defense was showcased on primetime when the Bolts faced the Jaguars in the AFC wild-card matchup. It was smooth sailing after Los Angeles scored 27 points and held Jacksonville to none, or so it seemed. Staley’s defensive unit intercepted Trevor Lawrence four times in the first half but what should’ve been total domination quickly turned into total chaos. 

The defensive woes that had hurt the Bolts all season showed its’ ugly face and Lawrence was able to throw four touchdown passes. 

After blowing a 27-0 lead to Jacksonville in the Bolts’ first playoff appearance in four years, it seemed as if Staley wasn’t the right man for the job. People already began to wonder whether he’d be the Chargers head coach after the loss to the Jaguars in 2022. 

The last straw. The Raiders once again played a main role in Staley’s infamous moments as they faced the Chargers on Thursday Night Football. It was arguably the Bolts’ most embarrassing performance in franchise history as they allowed Las Vegas to destroy them 63-21. It was a historic night for the Raiders but it was a horrific night for Staley. 

Just a few weeks prior he had snapped at a reporter in his postgame press conference after losing to the Packers.

“You can stop asking that question,” Staley told the reporter. “I am going to be calling the defenses. So we’re clear. So you don’t have to ask that again.”

Maybe it wasn’t his poor decision making or questionable play calling, but rather, his pride and inability to change that led to Staley’s bitter end. 

Staley had three seasons to make the necessary changes yet he never relented. He continued to dig himself into a hole and he eventually jumped in with the historic 63-21 loss to the Raiders. 

Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco’s firings were long overdue, if not too late

Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco should’ve been let go of a lot earlier.

The Chargers cleaned house on Friday after parting ways with GM Tom Telesco as well as HC Brandon Staley. This comes on the heels of an embarrassing 42-point loss to the Raiders on Thursday Night Football.

JoJo Wooden and Giff Smith were promoted to interim GM and HC respectively. Wooden has been the Director of Player Personnel since 2013. Giff Smith has served various roles from 2016-2023, including defensive line and outside linebackers coaching stints.

Before moving on to coaching and GM candidates for replacement content, it’s time to truly look back on the Telesco-Staley era as it comes to an end. After having plenty of cap space in 2021, a stud quarterback on a rookie deal, and plenty of big names on the roster, the Chargers sit here today with nothing to show for it. The Telesco-Staley era was defined by “all in” promises with more flash than substance.

Let’s start with Telesco. With a relatively slim playoff resume and mediocre regular season success in his 11 years, it was past time for him to go. Dean Spanos and Chargers’ ownership could not willingly let him hire a fourth head coach. His last shot was Staley.

Frankly, he got the opportunity to hire a third coach because of the selection of Justin Herbert in 2020. Had that not happened for this organization, I think it’s safe to say that he would’ve been gone sooner. But the Chargers wanted to keep some sort of structure at the top to bring along their rookie QB. At the time, there was a core of the fanbase and media that believed Telesco should’ve been relieved of his duties with Anthony Lynn after 2020.

And it’s clear that is the direction the franchise should’ve gone in. Telesco has struck out on finding requisite depth for the team in the draft. He’s spent all of the teams’ financial resources and their future capital on poor investments. The Chargers are $42 million over the projected cap in 2024. That stems from four max contract restructures for a losing season and J.C. Jackson dead cap money.

The retention of drafted players over the Telesco tenure was generally bad. Consistently, guys like Kyzir White and Drue Tranquill left the team on the cheap after their rookie deals while the Chargers would choose the worse team-building plays instead.

Letting Telesco manage another season would’ve been untenable. To be honest, the short-term damage he’s inflicted on the team in 2024 is enough to deal with. It was well past time to go.

For Staley, he leaves Los Angeles after three years on the job. He finishes 24-24 after 9-8, 10-7, and 5-9 seasons. While Staley showed promise in his first season, his downfall primarily occurred for a plethora of reasons. After promises to build the offense around Justin Herbert and “throw that sh*t downfield”, the Chargers’ head coach never fully figured out the offensive staff/personnel side of the ball. From Joe Lombardi to Kellen Moore, one thing remained consistent on offense: football that was never fundamentally sound.

And when the Chargers did manage to score 30 or 40 points, Staley’s defense managed to give up more. Herbert bailed out the former Chargers’ head coach in a number of games. Staley harped on the lack of complementary football all year and it presented itself in largely every game LA played. Even some of their wins were relatively ugly.

Staley’s defense and special teams combined units ranked bottom 10 in EPA in every season he was the head coach. Simply put, he was hired as a defensive coordinator who never fixed the defense. LA’s unit was plagued with poor tackling fundamentals, bad player development, and convoluted personnel decisions on gamedays. While Staley had good ideas in theory like the style of defense he intended to play, it was the execution of the concepts that were lacking.

Truthfully, there are plenty of more platitudes and moments I could mention on why both Staley and Telesco are finished in LA as we sit here today. But what’s more pressing is the future. While the Chargers will likely still be a hot destination with Herbert viewed as a top franchise cornerstone around the league, the damage has been done. There’s the cap situation. There’s deep player unhappiness rooted in the current situation. There probably will be a decent amount of turnover with not just coaching personnel, but many of the Chargers’ franchise figure players who have been present over the last half decade or longer.

Staley was hired by Telesco to make a run and build off the Herbert window. But whatever GM and coach pairing is hired next will be brought in to clear the wreckage “all in” venture that completely collapsed.

Chargers oust HC Brandon Staley, GM Tom Telesco hours after historic trouncing vs Raiders

Chargers oust HC Brandon Staley, GM Tom Telesco hours after historic trouncing vs Raiders

No question Brandon Staley was on a hot seat coming into his third season as Chargers head coach. That seat only got hotter as the season went along and the Chargers were en route to their worst season under his leadership.

Thursday night, everything came to a head with a monumental 63-21 loss to the Raiders on Thursday Night Football.

What came Friday morning was to be expected — Staley along with GM Tom Telesco were both fired.

Thursday night’s game wasn’t the reason, but it was about as much of a slamming of the book as you’ll ever see.

The game wasn’t even as close as the 49-point final score margin. It was 42-0 at the half, 49-0 before the Chargers first score, and 63-7 early in the fourth quarter. All of which only served to make what owner Dean Spanos had to do that much easier.

It was clear after the Chargers went down 21-0 in the first quarter, they packed it in and gave up. The result was three more touchdowns before the half, each one about as easy as one can imagine. They didn’t even try to stop Brandon Bolden on a direct snap run 26 yards for a touchdown.

The Chargers had lost four of their previous five games coming into this one. The only win being an ugly 6-0 game against the hapless Patriots. They were a rudderless ship.

With Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen, and Joey Bosa on the sideline with injuries, this team had no fight in them. It was past time for a reset and now they will play out the string and be in the market for new leadership to see if they can manage to get a pretty talented team to play to the level everyone has expected them to play each season.

Instant analysis of Chargers firing Brandon Staley, Tom Telesco

What the firing of Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco means for the Chargers.

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.

Chargers fire head coach Brandon Staley, general manager Tom Telesco

The Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco era is over in Los Angeles.

The Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco era is over in Los Angeles.

The Chargers fired Staley and Telesco on Friday following the team’s 63-21 loss to the Raiders.

The interim coach and general manager will be announced later today, per the team’s official release.

This is the first time Dean Spanos fired a coach midseason since 1998 when the team moved on from Kevin Gilbride, replacing him with June Jones.

Staley departs after posting a 24-24 record in the three seasons, including a 0-1 record in the only season he made the playoffs in 2022. Telesco spent 11 years as the team’s general manager. Los Angeles was 84-92, with three playoff appearances in that span.

Parting ways with Staley would have made sense after last year’s historic loss to the Jaguars in the postseason. Los Angeles gave him another shot, and things didn’t get any better.

As for Telesco, he brought in top-end players but the depth consistently was lacking, thus never leading to success on the field.

Staley was hired back in 2021 after overseeing the league’s best defense when he was the Rams defensive coordinator in 2020.

Despite being touted as a defensive guru and investing heavily in premium players, that side of the ball remained the weak link since his arrival.

It was on full display as the Chargers allowed the most points in franchise history on Thursday, which was the last straw for Staley.

This season, Los Angeles is 29th in total yards allowed and passing yards allowed and 27th in points allowed.

Beyond the underachieving defenses, Staley was at the helm for a multitude of late-game meltdowns, head-scratching in-game decisions and injuries to big-name players.

In Staley’s three seasons with the Chargers, of the 24 losses, 16 games had been lost by a touchdown or less, with 12 of those decided by three points or fewer.

The Bolts have appeared in the playoffs just three times over the past ten years, have not won the AFC West division since 2009 and last made the AFC championship game following the 2007 season.

Los Angeles Chargers fire head coach Brandon Staley, GM Tom Telesco

The Los Angeles Chargers fired both head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco after their humiliating loss to the Raiders.

In the midst of a 5-9 season, and one day after a 63-21 humiliation at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders in which his players seemed to all bit give up at times, the Los Angeles Chargers have fired head coach Brandon Staley. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network had the news, along with the fact that the team has also fired general manager Tom Telesco.

The team confirmed the news.

Staley finishes his nearly three-year term with a 24-24 record, and an 0-1 mark in the postseason. The 2023 campaign was a particular disappointment, coming as it did with multiple injuries (most notably to quarterback Justin Herbert), and a defense that never could get out of its own way. Not great when Staley got the job in the first place because he was regarded as one of the NFL’s better defensive minds.

Telesco had been the team’s general manager since 2013, and the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers posted an 84-92 regular-season record, with a 2-3 postseason mark, during his tenure.

“I know what I’ve done here for three years, and I know what I’ve put into this,” Staley said after the Raiders game, when asked if he thought he should keep his job. “I know what we’re capable of. I know the type of coach that I am, and I believe in myself. But again, this isn’t about me. This is about a group that’s hurting in there. We got to get some rest and we have to get ready for Buffalo.”

The Chargers are on to welcoming the Buffalo Bills to their home turf, but neither Staley nor Telesco will be.

Brandon Staley on whether he’ll remain Chargers’ head coach: ‘I don’t know that’

Brandon Staley was pressed by media members following the Chargers’ loss to the Raiders.

Brandon Staley was predictably grilled at his postgame presser following the Chargers’ 63-21 loss to the Raiders. LA went into halftime down 42-0 and gave up a franchise record for points allowed in a game.

Staley was asked whether he thinks he will have his job tomorrow and he responded: “I don’t know that.”

Then, asked if he thinks he should, he said, “Yes.” Why? “I know what I’ve done here for three years. I know what I’ve put into this … I know the type of coach I am.”

Staley also said that losses like Thursdays’ have happened to a number of high-profile coaches when asked a second time why he thinks he should keep his job with the result.

“It’s a reflection on all of us,” Staley said when asked about the result. He went on to push back on other questions. When asked about a potential disconnect in the locker room, Staley denied it outright.

It seems like Staley will have a meeting with ownership after this game. During his press conference, he said that one takes place 24 hours after every game. On Friday or Saturday, we should have some resolution on his fate.

Assuming he is still the head coach, Staley and the Chargers will have to rebound in just a little over the week to play the Bills in a primetime game.

Social media reacts to Chargers’ 63-21 loss to Raiders

Here is how social media reacted to the Chargers’ embarrassing loss to the Raiders.

The Chargers lost big in Vegas Thursday night.

The Raiders scored 63 points and more than half of those points were in the first half. Although the final score of the matchup was 63-21, it was a clear sign that change is needed within the franchise.

Here’s how social media reacted to the Bolts’ embarrassing loss:

 

 

 

 

 

Everything to know about Chargers’ embarrassing loss to Raiders

The Chargers were embarrassed in prime time.

The Chargers got embarrassed by the Raiders on Thursday night while the entire nation watched.

To recap Los Angeles’ 63-21 loss to Las Vegas, here is everything to know.

Chargers QB Justin Herbert after loss to Chiefs: ‘No one’s going to panic’

Justin Herbert sounded off after the Chargers’ loss to the Chiefs.

If you were to log in to Twitter and read about the Chargers after Sunday’s 31-17 loss to the Chiefs, your impression would likely be that the sky is falling.

That sentiment seems the same on Facebook, YouTube, or anywhere else you can consume Chargers content.

The one place it is not the same, according to quarterback Justin Herbert, is in the locker room. When asked postgame if LA’s two-game losing streak had been more challenging for Herbert than in previous circumstances, the signal caller answered:

Football’s tough. Whether you’re winning or whether you’re losing, it’s a tough sport and it requires tough people. And we got a tough locker room in there. It hasn’t gone our way the past couple of games, but no one’s going to panic, no one’s going to quit, no one’s going to give up.

Asked about Brandon Staley’s “reset” comments, Herbert elaborated:

I think it means we’ve got a new challenge, a new week of football. You can’t let your last one affect your next one and so we’re gonna watch the film, we’re gonna move on, and we’re gonna learn from it.

Kansas City’s second-half adjustments on defense stifled the Chargers offense, which Herbert acknowledged:

They played some good defense. They had some good things covered up and we did our best to move the ball and unfortunately we didn’t execute as well as we could’ve. There are some plays we’d love to have back, some throws and protections and things like that. I thought our coach put us in a position to play good football today and it’s on me and on our offense to be able to score points.

Herbert talked about playing complementary football and acknowledged that the Chargers have yet to put together a complete performance in which the offense, defense, and special teams all play well for four quarters. He again said it was on the offense to be able to capitalize on the turnovers the defense forced, with a theme of execution in subsequent answers about what went wrong with his unit.

Herbert also clarified that he was sometimes handing the ball off with his right hand because the splint on his fractured left finger ripped off during the game. He later said that while the finger was not affecting his ability to handle the ball, it was something he was consciously protecting on Sunday.

Herbert did not sound like the captain of a surrendered army in his comments to the media, and it’s clear that the roster still believes in their ability to turn the season around. However, it’s also clear that they’re aware of the things holding them back – namely, execution in critical moments and missed opportunities.

This team is not at rock bottom – they’re a few bad bounces away from being 5-1, after all – but they must recognize that they’re trending in that direction before the oxygen runs out. On Sunday, Herbert made it sound like the Chargers knew, but they were still figuring out which way was up before heading for the surface. Time will tell whether their sense of direction is keen enough to take another breath.