Brandon Staley hired by Los Angeles Chargers as new head coach

The Arizona Cardinals most formidable defenses they faced in 2020 will have new coordinators in 2021.

Robert Saleh was hired last week by the New York Jets to be their head coach and in a bit of a shocking move, the Los Angeles Chargers are hiring one-year defensive coordinator Brandon Staley as their new head coach.

Staley is only 38 years old, but his coaching resume as a play caller is light. Staley was the outside linebackers coach with the Chicago Bears under Vic Fangio for two years and one year in Denver with the Broncos, until Sean McVay tapped him as the Rams defensive coordinator.

In his one season as a DC the Rams had the top defense in terms of yards and points allowed, they finished fourth overall in defensive DVOA according to Football Outsiders.

Of course, Staley and the Rams were bludgeoned by the Packers in the Rams divisional round matchup with the Green Bay Packers, but overall he had a really strong first season as a defensive coordinator.

It’ll be interesting to see how things go for Staley and the Chargers, but Cardinals fans will be excited to know he won’t be calling the defense for the Rams in 2021.