It really is all about who you know in the NFL. Even a disastrous stint as head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers and some poor results on defense has not stopped Brandon Staley from landing some high-profile gigs. Some unfortunate souls will have to watch him try to coordinate a defense.
Staley, who spent last season in a vague assistant role with the 49ers, was named defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints under former Chargers OC Kellen Moore. This hire was met with some milquetoast responses, but that didn't stop Ian Rapoport from trying to make it seem like the Saints just hired Bill Belichick.
Rapoport, who shares the same agent as Staley, was very complimentary of the Staley hire by noting that Joey Bosa, Derwin James, and Khalil Mack all had "big years" under his watch. Rapoport also hyped up Staley leading No. 1 ranked defenses with the Rams (five years ago) and the Bears (seven years ago, and he wasn't even the DC).
Chargers fans who saw Staley waste some top-end production from Justin Herbert while failing to adjust on the defensive side of the ball know how much of a mess Staley can be. Time for New Orleans to learn the hard way.
Ian Rapoport tries to hype ex-Chargers HC Brandon Staley as Saints defensive coordinator
Staley did have success as an assistant in Chicago and as Rams DC, but it's easy to be a good coach when Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald at the peak of their powers can cause havoc on the defensive line. When it came time to take a subpar unit and lift it up, Staley proved to be way in over his skis as a coach.
The Chargers never ranked higher than 21st in the league in points per game allowed, and that was with names like Mack, James, and Bosa all on the field. Their inability to stop the run was ultimately what doomed Staley, and he could be in for more of the same with a substandard Saints roster.
While it makes sense for Moore to hire someone with past head coaching experience to oversee his defense, the fact that he has picked someone who failed in as spectacular a fashion as Staley did could cause some Saints fans to be a bit less optimistic about their new regime. Hopefully, Staley has been humbled and learned from his Chargers mistakes.