LA Chargers: Getting to know Brandon Staley’s coordinators
LA Chargers STC Derius Swinton II
Like Lombardi, Derius Swinton is not a first time coordinator. Swinton spent one year as the special teams coordinator during Chip Kelly’s first season as San Francisco’s head coach. Unfortunately for Swinton, Kelly was fired after just one year on the job which meant he was out as well.
Frankly, Swinton did a decent job with the Niners’ special teams. That Niners team was practically speaking in a full rebuild following the Jim Harbaugh era. In 2014 and 2015, San Francisco’s Special Teams ranked 24th and 27th in the league respectively. Under Swinton, they jumped to 16th in the league per Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings.
Most importantly, the special teams units he’s worked on have been solid. Dustin Colquitt had the best punting season in Chiefs’ history when Swinton was on the staff in 2012. The 2020 Cardinals ranked 10th in special teams this season with the fifth fewest penalties and the best opponent starting field position in the league.
Swinton is also a trained special teams coach, something George Stewart was not. Chargers fans have already taken their fair share of shots at the guy, but he simply wasn’t a proper special teams coach. Having someone who has been working specifically in special teams for over a decade in the NFL is a breath of fresh air compared to Stewart’s relative inexperience in the kicking game.
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There’s nothing that jumps off the page about Swinton’s resume, but he’s been part of good special teams units on otherwise bad teams. While some might poke holes in the resume of Lombardi or Hill, Swinton is a massive step up from what the team previously had.