Following the Raiders’ historic rout of the Chargers on Thursday night, the reeling team will drop the hammer early. The Bolts announced the firings of Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco on Friday morning.
The Chargers have since announced the promotion of Giff Smith and JoJo Wooden to respectively replace Staley and Telesco on an interim basis. The former has experience as a D-line coach dating back to 1999, and he has been in the organization since 2016. Over the past two seasons, though, he has worked as the team’s outside linebackers coach. This will be Smith’s first appointment as a head coach at the college or pro level.
Wooden, meanwhile, has been with the Chargers for the past decade. He has served with the title of player personnel director after working his way through the ranks in the Jets’ scouting department from 1997 to 2012. Like Smith, he will now oversee the conclusion of a highly disappointing campaign for the Bolts before potentially garnering consideration for the full-time role.
This is the first instance of the Chargers firing a head coach in-season since they axed Kevin Gilbride 25 years ago. But Staley has long been expected to be out, with the Bolts regressing in a season following a 27-point collapse in the wild-card round. Telesco spent 11 years as the Chargers’ GM. While much-hyped rosters formed under his watch, the team did not turn well-regarded transactions into sustained success.
Hired in 2021, Staley came over after one season as the Rams’ defensive coordinator. But the ascendant assistant could not establish success in this area with the Chargers. The Raiders dropping 63 on their rivals, 42 of those points coming in the first half, after the Vikings had held them scoreless in Week 15 prompted Bolts ownership to act early.
Telesco backed Staley following the Jaguars’ wild-card rally, which doubled as the third-biggest postseason deficit ever overcome, and the “what if?” involving Sean Payton is worth examining. The then-FOX analyst was linked to being interested in the Chargers job at multiple points last year. The move would have allowed Payton to stay in Los Angeles. But Telesco kept Staley, continuing a Chargers trend of keeping coaches beyond two seasons.
Staley is now the first Bolts HC to lose his job after less than four full seasons since the team fired Mike Riley following the 2001 campaign. Even Riley, who did not produce a winning season, lasted longer than Staley. But the alarming Week 15 performance opened the door to the Bolts needing to cut the cord now. As the team began to struggle this season, Chargers president John Spanos — a previous Staley advocate — began to distance himself from the embattled HC, Outkick.com’s Armando Salguero notes. The Spanoses will now begin to look for Staley’s replacement in an offseason that will remind of 2013, when the Bolts replaced both their HC and GM.
The Telesco news represents a bigger-picture development. The former Colts exec had hired Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn and Staley during his run as GM. Telesco’s drafts brought difference-makers in Joey Bosa, Keenan Allen, Derwin James, Rashawn Slater and Justin Herbert. Telesco did well to leave no gaps between star quarterbacks, selecting Herbert sixth overall a month after Philip Rivers departed in free agency. Telesco, 51, also hammered out a through-2029 Herbert extension this offseason. The quarterback’s presence will make both the new Bolts vacancies attractive, but rampant underachievement has defined this team for much of the 21st century.
Even before the Raiders’ rout, Telesco was rumored to be on the chopping block. Dean Spanos will opt to not let Telesco hire a fourth HC. The three he hired combined for just three playoff appearances in 11 seasons. The Chargers, who had sustained success under Marty Schottenheimer and the early part of Norv Turner‘s ensuing HC run, have not ventured to back-to-back playoff brackets since the 2008-09 seasons. Despite Rivers playing his final seven Chargers seasons during Telesco’s tenure, the potential Hall of Famer only piloted the Bolts to two playoff brackets in that span. The Chargers won postseason games in 2013 and ’18 and were on track to eliminate the Jags last season, but success proved fleeting for squads that seemed to annually generate buzz.
After hiring offense-oriented coaches in 2013 and ’17, Telesco chose Staley’s defensive acumen to pair with Herbert in 2021. The Chargers managed to produce the AFC’s Pro Bowl starting quarterback and miss the playoffs. That had not happened in the AFC since the 1989 Bengals. Herbert put up dazzling numbers in 2021, but a Week 18 loss to the Raiders led to the budding superstar’s season wrapping early. A rib injury last September limited Herbert, and Staley fired OC Joe Lombardi following the playoff season. Two-year DC Renaldo Hill left to rejoin Vic Fangio in Miami this offseason.
Following a 2021 season that featured the Bolts ranking 29th in points allowed, Staley made a push for the team to equip him with better defensive personnel in 2022. The team traded for Khalil Mack and signed J.C. Jackson and Sebastian Joseph-Day. The Mack trade belatedly panned out, with the former Raiders and Bears standout rebounding for 15 sacks this season. The five-year, $82.5MM Jackson contract proved disastrous for the Chargers, who sent the underperforming cornerback back to the Patriots for next to nothing earlier this season.
The Chargers had made Jackson a healthy scratch in Week 3. Even after the round of defensive reinforcements, Staley’s 2022 defense ranked 20th; after last night’s Raider rampage, his third Charger defense ranks 29th. Last season’s Jacksonville catastrophe also featured the Bolts lining up without Mike Williams, who was injured in a meaningless Week 18 game against the Broncos. Staley and Telesco each defended the decision to leave starters in that contest deep into the second half, but the Chargers — who have struggled with receiver health over the past two seasons — suffered the consequences of Williams’ absence a week later. As the Chargers swooned in the wake of the playoff debacle, they lost Herbert to a season-ending finger injury.
Herbert’s status will naturally drive interest in this position, and some around the league are monitoring the Chargers as a Bill Belichick suitor. The Bolts would likely need to trade for the Patriots legend, and it would be interesting to see if this gains traction. A short-term Belichick-Herbert pairing would draw interest for a franchise that has struggled to establish itself in L.A., while such a move would also be a zag after Telesco made inexperienced coordinators — in Staley and Lynn — his HC choices. But we are still a ways away from the Belichick market taking shape.
Regardless of where the Chargers go from here, their next regime will be responsible for undoing some of the damage this era brought. The organization’s reputation for letdowns pushed “Chargering” into the NFL lexicon. In a division with Payton and Patrick Mahomes, the Bolts suddenly have more ground to make up despite striking gold with Herbert.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
This is the greatest day in Chargers history
The worst part about Staley wasn’t even the gross incompetence, though that was obviously pretty bad. Being handed that much talent on the roster over the years-Bosa, Mack, James, Davis, Samuel, etc-and being so bad or average on defense was appalling. The offense was pretty productive, definitely enough so to win games. They certainly had the talent on that side of the ball-Herbert, Allen, Ekeler, Williams, etc. All Staley had to do was just have a good defense. He never managed to get that going for a season. The run defense in particular was consistently bad. For a person more touted as a defensive genius than most coaches I can remember, Staley’s system was complicated, inflexible, ineffective, and often ill disciplined.
As I said in the lead, though, by FAR the worst part was his arrogant refusal to learn from his mistakes. Like, he KNEW that his idiot game management was losing close games. He KNEW that he got bailed out in a few of them-like versus Minnesota, and somehow versus New England. But he kept doing it. Worse even than that, he refused to even admit to possibly being wrong, even when he lost! Bear in mind, I also am not even a Chargers fan. I also try to acknowledge always that we, as fans, are not privy to a huge majority of what goes into decision making and we don’t have the experience that these people do. But sheesh, watching Staley operate with this inflexible, snarky, close minded incompetence was hard to bear. The closest recent example I can think is Gase’s New York misadventure. It’s one thing to be incompetent, but you can’t be arrogant and incompetent. You have to pick.
That’s exactly what I love about Zac Taylor with the Bengals. He is willing to see what’s not working and change it and start being successful. The past few seasons, they’ve started the season rough and he completely changed things and they started winning. Even when Browning took over, the first game was bad, they changed things the second game and started winning. A good leader will admit their mistakes and correct them.
about time
Shocking….
should have been fired after 2021.
Or last year after blowing that playoff game.
Should have canned him after the Week 11 loss vs the packers.
I feel like this thread could get pretty long…
That team just looked so depressed and lost last night. Probably better for everyone.
Interested to see who ends up being the new coach/GM.. should be the most attractive job barring any surprise firing..I know every available coach is gonna be linked to the chargers .. Are they gonna hire a combo like Ben Johnson and a GM or one of those coach/GM’s like harbaugh or belichick
The Spanos Family have the rep for being cheap, so I don’t see them shelling out the big bucks for either Belichick or Harbaugh.
Belichick is a no-go as he’s about to complete his 3rd losing season in 4 years. John Harbaugh has a job for life in Baltimore.
Jim Harbaugh, why not? Gets him away from the corrupt cesspool that is present-day college football.
I don’t see how this is the most attractive job. They’re $45 mil over the cap, most of their best players are old, and they’ve already paid they’re qb huge money, who, while I admit is very good, doesn’t look to be someone who can put a team on his back.
I agree. If were the Chargers owner I would go after Jim Harbaugh in a NY minute. I’m sure Jim Harbaugh prefers The Bears job if it opens up, but Harbaugh is known for wanting personal power if he becomes a NFL head coach again and I don’t see Bears GM Ryan Poles giving up that control. That being said , I would be shocked if Chargers owner Dean Spanos spending the big money to get Jim Harbaugh, that’s not the Spanos Family style, spending that kind of money . I see the Chargers hiring an up and coming executive like a Adam Peters ( 49ers Asst GM) for GM and then getting a up and coming assistant coach like a Ben Johnson or a Brian Johnson
45 mill doesn’t mean much. Teams restructure deals all the time to help cap situations
It’s the most attractive cause
they have a franchise qb in herbert
they have pieces on offense
they have pieces on defense
you’re walking into a top 10 possibly top 5 with herbert out rest of the year pick situation in the draft.
The big part is franchise qb all pro level
Patriots Bears Raiders Panthers possibly falcons etc you’re not starting with a franchise qb.
I disagree. I think it’ll be one of the maybe top 4 or so but not the best, and even that is only because of Herbert. Keenan Allen and Austin Ekeler are well past their prime. Mike Williams is hurt every year. Khalil Mack will be 33 and on the last year of his contract. Johnston’s early returns look pretty bad considering all the other WRs drafted in 2023 looking pretty good. This whole roster looks a mess and if you’re 45 million already over the cap, you’ve got a lot to fix outside of QB. Herbert has been around for some time now and while I agree he’s a franchise QB, I don’t know that the talent around him is enough to say they’re a contender without completely overhauling the roster, which they look in a bad position to do.
For some reason I can’t reply to your other comment.
Anyways
Again. 45 mill over the cap doesn’t mean much. Teams restructure deals all the time to reduce cap hits.
Allen, Ekeler, Mack are old. Right. Ekeler is gone after this year he’s a free agent. Meaning they’ll get younger at the position either via draft or free agency. Moss, Gibson, Dillion. Some good options outside Henry Jacobs Pollard Barkley.
They’ll also get Mike Williams back. And if hes not healthy Johnston was drafted as his replacement. Far as Johnstone struggles he was the most raw coming out. He wasn’t as polished as the other but he had the most upside given his speed frame and stuff.
All in all he probably finishes the year with 500 yards and some tds. Not bad for a rookie. Compared to other 1st rounders Addison Flowers Smith Njgiba, Tank Dell a 3rd round pick and Puka Nacua a 5th round pick have been the best wrs this year amongst rookies. Even late 2nd rounder Rashee Rice has looked better compared to 1st rounders. But that’s why we wait a couple years before writing guys off.
Again they can also add to the position via draft or free agency.
You have a healthy Herbert and a semi capable defense you’re a contender. They’ll win 10-11 games easy. Offense has never been the issue. Defense has ranked near dead last. Put them in the early 20s or teens theyre a contender.
Pretty embarassing effort last night to be sure, but what difference does it make to fire these folks today? It sort of lets the team off the hook for their own performance.
6 fumbles and 1 interception are not the head coach’s fault.
If nothing else, it’s a nice gesture to the fans who want him gone. They got embarrassed by a division rival that was shut out last week. Staley is supposedly a defense-oriented coach and Aidan O’Connell and company hung 63 on them.
And that 63-point showing is a Raiders team record. The Silver and Black never hung 63 on anyone in Oakland or Los Angeles.
The team completely quit on Staley. He lost the locker room and the team and it was showing more and more. It’s largely symbolic but he still needed to be fired immediately
I think firing a terrible boss should be a wakeup call to his underlings that they could be next. Unfortunately the contracts for coaches are much different than for players. Otherwise some of them would probably be gone too (aside from a low salary or borderline non-contributor).
In this instance, I think they had to fire him now. They were just demolished by the Raiders in a primetime game, and the Raiders aren’t good. LA is a tough market to compete for viewership in, too, and you have to do something to try to appease your fanbase. Plus, as flat as that team looked, I don’t think you want that energy festering in the locker room. By firing Staley now, you also take away that crutch some players may try to lean on by blaming it all on him.
About time! Staley was a horrible coach as he underutilized his best players in Herbert, Ekeler and Allen and never put them in a position succeed with the offense he ran. There is no way this team should be 5-9 with this type of offensive talent.
I admittedly don’t see many Chargers games living in Pittsburgh, but the ones I have seen have been losses where Staley shot himself in the foot. You’re right. This team is an enigma
The chargers can have coach BB for a first round pick!!
They’ll get him for nothing.
The Patriots might throw in a pick to sweeten the deal!
To Chargers: Belichek and a third.
To Patriots: Nothing
*Im teasing.
Good Riddance to this Clown Show!!!
What a Dumpster Fire!!!
Norv Turner, Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn and now Brandon Staley. The last string of Chargers coaches have been awful. Poor coaching hires got Telesco fired. Spanos won’t fire himself sadly
I may be in the minority, but I thought Lynn wasn’t as bad as he was regarded. McCoy and Turner were pretty big disappointments as well established coordinators who had worked with all time great offenses. Staley just…in my opinion, he was bad from the start, despite some very positive wishes for him coming from a successful defense and a great former boss in Vic Fangio. Very disappointing for Chargers fans.
I do think that it didn’t get any easier losing so much community and fan support after the L.A. move. The Rams certainly have more pull with the NFL and what little fanbase in Los Angeles that roots for a hometown team probably is more Rams friendly than Chargers friendly. The Raiders probably own more of that share than either team, though. The San Diego faithful didn’t get enough credit for supporting the team, in my opinion, and I think that that transition didn’t help Lynn much, either.
You can’t sell pro sports in Los Angeles on L.A. County alone. The Chargers target Orange County, San Diego County, and the Inland Empire. The Rams target the Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley, and Ventura County.
Besides, there is a damn good reason why the NFL did not allow the Raiders to return to L.A.
I agree that Lynn wasn’t as bad as the others. I wouldn’t have minded him getting another season with Herbert especially when the decision was to go with Staley
They did have a somewhat decent group of local San Diego fans but once the Padres got Petco built then there was no way the Chargers were getting a new stadium in San Diego. I grew up there and had season tickets in the 90s and even then it seemed like a foregone conclusion they’d be gone even then
For some I cannot reply to your responses in this new system.
I will yield to your experience in San Diego. I know that people had considered the Chargers a lost cause for some time, since the first rumblings about Qualcomm’s status began. I of course hold the Spanks family largely responsible for the decrease in public support in how they handled the stadium maintenance, let alone in how they treated the public and fanbase. At best, they seemed uninterested, and at worst, spiteful and ready to move. That’s been my impression, and as I said, I will yield to your experience as a local then. Regardless, I feel that it was a sad situation for Chargers fans, no matter how inevitable the gradual decline seemed.
As for marketing, I agree with you Chucky. The circumstances are still the same, however. What diminished fan support for the Chargers was gone. The support for the more popular team (the Rams) is already minimal, let alone the follower team (Chargers). As for moving the Raiders…well, my opinion is that that decision had much more to do with Kroenke’s strong favoritism at the time. He had the expensive plan, more money, and had been plotting the move since taking over from Frontiere. Plus, the ability to lean on his familial wealth and his ownership of other lucrative major American franchises probably helped in making him seem more secure. That’s my read on the move-Kroenke was better supplied, more ambitious, and better supplied. For a guy who claimed that the $350 million state/municipal stadium contribution in St. Louis was far too low, Kroenke had no issue spending upwards of $6 billion on his own private Disneyland…
I agree that the Spanos family is a hindrance and problem for the team and the biggest reason why the Chargers aren’t in San Diego anymore. Alex thought the team was more important to the city than they were and Dean seemed eager to move to begin with
Ak’s analysis misses the real reason: The NFL doesn’t want the FBI, the LAPD, and every other law enforcement agency on Roger Goodell’s ass. Raiders gear was a favorite of gangbangers back in the day — and N.W.A wore Raiders gear on the cover of “Straight Outta Compton”.
Old police tropes die hard, especially in the Southland.
Good head coaches are as rare as franchise quarterbacks – thus Charger fans shouldn’t be expecting the next guy will be any better.
I disagree. Next guy may not be great, but its hard to see said guy being worse.
They should give Urban Meyer a call.
Why would the LAC choose to fire their coach/GM right now?
You’ve got three more chances to parlay the other team laying the points + the Over. You should be able to win enough $$$ to account for the rest of what you owe them before you fire them at the end of the season.
I had no idea who this guy was or why people kept saying bad stuff about him. Then I watched him play the Broncos for two quarters where he couldn’t find the field goal unit. I was so blown away I was practically yelling at my laptop…and I’m not even a Chargers fan. Unbelievable, kick the ball dude. Seriously.
That was a recurring theme with Staley. The worst part, believe it or not, was his stubborn refusal to ever admit those things as mistakes in his pressers-and this is coming from an also non-Chargers fan.
Right? Amazing, honestly. I’ve never yelled “idiot” at my television for another team’s…anything. I started wailing with laughter down the stretch every time they’d come up with a 4th down at like the 30, “C’mon Staley, GO FOR IT GENIUS!!” ROTFLMAO like Eric Cartmen from South Park. LOL Should’ve made Staley the MVP of the game.
Now Herbert is another QB sacrifice thanks to bad development. The Chargers might as well ‘tank’ without telling anybody at this point and hope to land Bellichick or something. To fight at this point is like bringing a knife to a gun fight.
I think hiring the right head coach is more art than science. Its more than xs and os.
I think teams can get lucky. I also think teams are a little too quick to jump on the hot coordinator when its a big jump to the HC seat. Its a new set of responsibilities, and often the coordinators have just a season or two of highly visible success under their belt.
I have absolutely no clue what the right formula is, but I dont think the NFL does either. Its about doing all your homework and getting lucky.
Agree completely. It’s a crap shoot. But offhand, a head coach must be more than a strategy guy. He needs to be able to communicate with modern athletes. Don’t know how easy it is for any front office type to assess those abilities beyond word of mouth
The added pressure of “needing to get it right, and make a decision quick!” contributes to all this, in my mind. Coaches get less time to build, teams take less time to pick them, and these promising coordinators have less time to develop management skills or hone their schemes over time. Obviously, it’s quite rare to stay put as a coordinator until one’s skills are complete and tempered with experience. They’re going to jump at their first opportunity, because they never know if they may get another. And teams are eager to throw those opportunities at them.
It just feels much more rushed. It’s a race to beat out the other teams, but the decisions and candidates feel much less prepared.
As a Packers fan, I’d be ok if the chargers hired any of our coaches or the GM. No need for draft pock or monetary compensation either.
Let’s go giff smith
Call Jim Harbaugh ASAP
No cheaters
BB out too?
After watching last night’s debacle, I doubt many are surprised by this. I was thinking how the post-game locker room discussion went.
Clearly the team quit on him. They fired him first.
I wonder if Staley didn’t go in with such indignation that he said something like “I will remember this game” as an implicit statement that if any of the players need a job when he has his next coaching job – he’s going to quit on them in return.
Maybe an odd thought – but I would have liked to have seen how that locker room conversation went.
Only thing that will ever help the hapless chargers is if the dishonest and incompetent Spanos clan fire themselves.
Time for the Steelers to call the Chargers and offer to trade them Tomlin for some high draft picks.
“Get this bum OUT of here! Also, I’ll be needing a PREMIUM return for said bum!”
Sad they quit on themselves and the quit on the coach…
It appears a disastrous defensive effort will get a HC fired quicker than a bad offensive effort. Former Chargers HC Tommy Prothro lost 5 times to the Raiders between 1975-77 (4 losses by shutout) yet he wasn’t let go until a month into the 1978 campaign.
And Prothro coached the Chargers in the Holy Roller Game! (1978/Week 2)
The good thing about that in-season dismissal is that it set the stage for Air Coryell in San Diego.
What’re the odds on Bieniemy?
He was a terrible coach
Their plan worked lmao what a dog crap coach
So the majority feels this is a wonderful event without any idea what or whom the team might hire as replacements.
Telesco will get another job pretty quick I’m thinking. Staley maybe a coordinator gig unless Spanos is on the hook for salary.
I wouldn’t mind an offensive minded coach but not sure I want one that tries to be OC and HC as this combination is hit or miss. There’s some college coaches, not Harbaugh, that could infuse novel ideas and energy. I’m impressed with UW and Oregon HCs. Some OC that have vitalized a couple teams, but can they handle being a HC,
My only concern would be offering draft picks for an old used up Billy Boy or ANY current HC unless it’d be Andy. If Kraft is going to move on then Bill might be worth a look but if Kraft wants compensation because Nilly Billy is still on the ‘book’ for 2024 I’d pass on that.
Yet the article is about the Chargers so there’s a good chance the ‘family’ will screw this process up
Hire Norv Turner back as he is a Spanos clown. The Spanos family needs to sell the Chargers to someone who’ll bring them back to San Diego for good!
Is that Mike Lupica under an assumed name?
It was one of the easiest decisions in this history of decisions
As a Raider fan, I am still celebrating the change of management.
But even at his worst, McDaniels was still not as bad a coach as Staley. I work with a Charger fanatic, and it would become part of the conversation every Monday morning to see how Staley blew the game, or almost blew the game.