Saints Hire Former Chargers Head Coach as Defensive Coordinator
The New Orleans Saints are signing a new defensive coordinator. ESPN NFL insiders Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler broke the news on Friday afternoon that Brandon Staley would be hired by the Saints. This comes as Staley spent 2024 in San Francisco as the assistant head coach. Staley’s previous stint as DC was his lone season for the Rams, leading the number-one scoring defense in the entire NFL the year before they claimed Super Bowl LVI.
Staley is best known for his time spent as the head coach for the Los Angeles Chargers. During his three seasons in LA, Staley compiled a 24-24 record. In his only playoff appearance, Staley’s Chargers blew a 27-0 lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2022 Wild Card game. His final season with the Chargers was an embarrassing one as the team had a 5-9 record before finally cutting ties with the Perry, Ohio native. In his final week at the helm, LA lost to the Raiders by a score of 63-21, just four days after Las Vegas had lost 3-0.
The 42-year-old coach has also been a well-established analytics enthusiast. As a matter of fact, Staley may have indirectly caused a negative connotation of analytics due to his time with the Chargers. In his first season as head coach, Staley faced a Week 18 ‘win or go home’ situation against the Raiders. After failing on a fourth down conversion attempt, the Raiders had great field position to extend their lead to six and won the game in overtime due to a costly timeout with 38 seconds left that allowed the Raiders to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired. With Staley now reunited with Kellen Moore, who he hired in 2023 to be the Chargers’ offensive coordinator, there are two great analytical minds in New Orleans. Moore’s Eagles attempted the 11th-most fourth downs in the league last season but had the fourth-highest conversion rate. This past season showed that taking the points is a losing formula with the Commanders, Bills, Chiefs, Lions, and Eagles all having the top-five conversion rates on fourth down.
