The Saints are hiring former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley as their next defensive coordinator, per Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero, and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
Staley has been a top candidate for the Saints’ DC gig ever since Kellen Moore was hired as head coach. Moore was the Chargers’ offensive coordinator in 2023, Staley’s last season as head coach. Staley was fired before the end of the regular season and spent 2024 as an assistant head coach with the 49ers. He interviewed with the Saints last weekend and emerged as the favorite for the job, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
2025 will be Staley’s ninth season coaching in the NFL. He began his career at the college level before moving to the pros as an outside linebackers coach under Vic Fangio in Chicago (2017-2018) and Denver (2019). Staley was then hired by the Rams in 2020 as defensive coordinator. His defense finished first in total points and yards allowed, which helped him land the Chargers’ head-coaching gig after just one year as a coordinator.
Staley led the Chargers to a 9-8 record in his debut season with a top-five offense under second-year quarterback Justin Herbert. A 10-7 record in 2022 was enough for a playoff berth as a wild card, though the Chargers lost to the Jaguars in the first round. 2023 saw significant regression on both sides of the ball, leading to Staley’s firing after a 5-9 start. Of particular concern was the Chargers’ defensive struggles during his tenure; the team never finished higher than 20th in points or yards allowed across his three seasons.
Staley’s history with Fangio likely helped him land the job in New Orleans. Fangio is currently the Eagles’ defensive coordinator and worked with Moore in Philadelphia last season. The two led elite units on either side of the ball to a 14-3 record in the regular season and a victory in Super Bowl LIX. Staley will likely install a scheme similar to Fangio’s in New Orleans in an effort to turn around a Saints defense that allowed the third-most yards in the NFL in 2024.
The Saints may face criticism for their hiring process. Their other two candidates, Daronte Jones and Christian Parker, are both minorities. Given Staley’s early status as a frontrunner for the job, the Saints’ meetings with Jones and Parker could be seen as sham interviews that were only conducted so the team could comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule.
New Orleans also considered some college coaches for their defensive coordinator vacancy, including Colorado DC Robert Livingston, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. Here is a final update on their search:
- George Edwards, outside linebackers coach (Buccaneers): Mentioned as candidate
- Daronte Jones, defensive pass-game coordinator (Vikings): To interview 2/15
- Robert Livingston, defensive coordinator (University of Colorado): Was under consideration
- Christian Parker, passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach (Eagles): Interviewed 2/16
- Brandon Staley, assistant head coach (49ers): Hired
The good ol boy network strikes again. Moore hiring his former boss with the Chargers. What a surprise!!!
Kellen Moore obviously felt good about their relationship…communication, personality and ability. The Saints could surprise people this upcoming season.
They couldn’t surprise anyone with a top-ranked QB. Why will the situation change with question marks at that position?
The 2023 Chargers all over again. What could possibly go wrong?
those dirty priiicks. not all cops are like that though, son.
Now try a Dirty Burger.
Hahahaha….well maybe he will find redemption
People are going to focus on his disappointing run and horrible end with the Chargers, but last time the guy was a defensive coordinator, he took over from Wade Phillips as a first timer, changed the scheme, and ran arguably the best defense in football. It’s reasonable to think he can be a really good defensive coordinator. Whether that will matter with the Saints’ situation is another story.
Remember one thing. With the rams he had two first ballot hall of fame players in his defense and 4 pro bowlers. I could coach that talent. With the chargers he had an average nfl defense and ran it into the ground. An established NFL coordinator went into the Chargers this year and put them back in the top five defensively with the same roster. this is a disaster. Hire for New Orleans Staley has no business being in the NFL. In my opinion, he shouldn’t be coaching Pop Warner.
Wait, who are these four pro bowlers you’re claiming?
Staley didn’t work out well as a head coach. That doesn’t mean he can’t work well as a coordinator. He was a good coordinator before, whether he had talent or not. Kingsbury didn’t look good as a head coach, but did fine work as a coordinator. Head coach is a very different job.
Think it’s a decent hire, N.O. with 3rd worst defense he’ll improve that if they can fix the cap issues and bring in some help.
Misery with Saints, if your team is going to suck at least be within the cap, need better budgeting.
One good season does not a career make. Outside of that he’s done nothing worth mentioning. I’ll bet their D takes slow steps downhill.
Not to mention that he’ll run a totally different scheme than the team was built for. Allen’s defense aged out, and he himself was an average playcaller who leaned a lot on talent in my opinion. That said, the defense there is a 4-3 base with single gap coverage up front. Staley likes a 3-4 base with a gap and a half. They need younger players as is, so some drop off was expected, but there will be a transition now as well to account for.
Maybe it will be a good time, due to that fact, but Staley is known for being one of the most inflexible coaches of recent memory as a HC. Perhaps this will work, and he’ll get some great talent to fit his vision, but as of now there’s plenty of reason to not buy in immediately. I think they’ll end up being average or maybe above average after a year or two, but we’ll see. A bunch of young players working in tandem in a new scheme could be good, or it could be risky.
As a HC his defenses weren’t good. He got embarrassed in that playoff game vs Jacksonville and his team quit on him in a primetime blowout loss vs the Raiders. Not exactly a leader who inspires greatness. Not even sure how he gets hired? His only claim to fame is he worked under Fangio. So what? Alot of coaches did.
I never said one good season makes a career. But one great season surely makes him qualified for a second chance in that job. If their defense takes steps downhill, it probably has more to do with clinging to the oldest defense in football.
I never said you said that lol. I said it. If you look at the body of his very short NFL career (outside of his short career at D 2/3 schools) there isn’t anything good on his resume. Having your team quit on and embarass you on national TV and giving up a biggest lead in a playoff game on recent memory outweighs one good year. NFL players talk to each other. No one in LA has anything good to say. They really hate Staley. Who wants a guy like that as your boss? Poor Coen must’ve been really short on DC hires since he was hired as HC so late in the process.
link to boltbeat.com
There isn’t anything good on his resume… except the great season on his resume. And he worked under Fangio before that.
Also Coen is with the Jags, not the Saints.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Staley must’ve gotten lucky because his track record after is pretty bad. Wasn’t even a track record before. Lots of coaches worked under Fangio, and?
You said there isn’t anything good on his NFL resume. One of the best defensive coordinators in football, who just dominated the Super Bowl, had him on two different staffs. He then had a fantastic season as a defensive coordinator. Those are good things on his resume, whether you want to disqualify them to suit your argument or not. And lots of good coordinators go back to being good coordinators after being disappointing head coaches, including several of the most effective coordinators this past season, like Fangio, Kingsbury, and Joseph. Skeptical after his time as head coach and not very long run in the NFL prior to that? Fine. But acting like there’s nothing good on his NFL resume is nonsense. He’s getting a second chance at a job he did very well the last time he had a crack at it. You can choose to pretend otherwise, but that won’t change reality.
He didn’t do a very good job with the Chargers D. And being on Fangios’s staff is nice, but so were alot of other coaches. I didn’t pretend an embarssing comeback playoff game vs the Jaguars, nor did I pretend Staley’s team quit on him on national TV. Maybe you think having OLB coach experience at a D3 school is an NFL resume builder, I don’t. Nor would I want to work for a boss that other employees flat out quit on.
You’re again just ignoring the coordinator job he did. You can play whack a mole with your own logic.
Jets fan “Oooof” content with mediocrity, that’s a big ooooof.
“… could be seen as sham interviews that were only conducted so the team could comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule.”
That’s what the Rooney Rule is though?