Brandon John Staley (born December 10, 1982) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who is the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He previously served as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

from 2021 to 2023, defensive coordinator for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in 2020, an assistant coach for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Early life and college

Staley was born on December 10, 1982, in Perry, Ohio. He attended the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

and started two years at

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the Flyers from 2003 to 2004, guiding the team to a 16–5 record. He finished his playing career at Mercyhurst College, playing on the football team in 2005.

Coaching career

College

Brandon began his coaching career as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

at Northern Illinois from 2006 to 2008 before working with defensive linemen and special teams at Division III St. Thomas (Minnesota) in 2009. In 2010 and 2011, Staley served as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Hutchinson Community College (Kansas). He spent the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

season at

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

as a graduate assistant. Staley then spent three seasons (2013, 2015, 2016) as the defensive coordinator/secondary coach with

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

(Ohio). Staley spent 2014 as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

(Virginia). Staley was announced as the Defensive Coordinator of the Chattanooga Mocs (Tennessee) in January of 2017, but would step away from this role within the same month to pursue NFL opportunities.

Chicago Bears

In 2017, Staley was hired by the

as their outside linebackers coach.

Denver Broncos

On January 15, 2019, Staley was hired by the

as their outside linebackers coach, reuniting with then-head coach Vic Fangio.

Los Angeles Rams

On January 16, 2020, Staley was hired by the

as their defensive coordinator, replacing Wade Phillips. In his lone year as defensive coordinator, Staley helped guide the Rams defense to first in points and total yards allowed, positioning himself as an attractive head coaching candidate around the league.

Los Angeles Chargers

On January 17, 2021, Staley was hired as head coach of the

, replacing Anthony Lynn. On September 12, 2021, Staley made his head coaching debut against the Washington Football Team and led the Chargers to a 20–16 road victory. Staley led the Chargers to a 9–7 record through the first 16 games of the 2021 season. However, against the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

in Week 18 in a win or tie or go home situation, Staley came under scrutiny for two decisions during the game. The first involved a failed fourth down conversion on the Chargers' own 18-yard line, giving the Raiders a short field, which they would score on to extend their lead to six. The second was calling a timeout with 38 seconds left in the overtime period with the Raiders at the Chargers' 39-yard line. Staley claimed that he called the timeout to get the right defensive personnel on the field as the Raiders were running the ball. Following the game, there was conjecture that the timeout proved to be costly for the Chargers as the Raiders kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired, winning 35–32, and eliminating the Chargers from playoff contention. However, when discussing the moment on a podcast, Raiders' interim head coach at that time Rich Bisaccia stated that "the timeout was really irrelevant". In the 2022 season, Staley led the Chargers to a 10–7 record, finishing in second place in the AFC West. The Chargers finished as the #5-seed in the AFC and played the #4-seed 9–8

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

on January 14, 2023, in the AFC Wild Card round. The Chargers roared out to a 27–0 second quarter lead, but the Jaguars came back to win the game 31–30 with a field goal as time expired. It was the third-largest comeback in NFL playoff history. After a 5–9 start to the 2023 season and losing 63–21 to the Raiders on '' Thursday Night Football'' in Week 15, Staley was fired on December 15, 2023. The Chargers-Raiders game set a Chargers franchise record for most points allowed in a single game, along with a Raiders franchise record for most points scored in a single game (doing so just four days after playing in one of the lowest-scoring NFL games in league history, in a 3–0 loss to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

San Francisco 49ers

On March 2, 2024, Staley was hired by the

. His role as assistant head-coach was revealed on May 22.

New Orleans Saints

On February 21, 2025, Staley was hired by the

as their new defensive coordinator under head coach Kellen Moore, whom Staley worked with when he was head coach of the Chargers.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Staley was diagnosed with

Hodgkin lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

in 2006 and is considered cancer-free after undergoing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

. He married Amy Ward in 2011. They have three children.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staley, Brandon 1982 births Living people American football quarterbacks Chicago Bears coaches Coaches of American football from Ohio Dayton Flyers football players Denver Broncos coaches Hutchinson Blue Dragons football coaches James Madison Dukes football coaches John Carroll Blue Streaks football coaches Los Angeles Chargers head coaches Los Angeles Rams coaches Mercyhurst Lakers football players NFL defensive coordinators New Orleans Saints coaches Northern Illinois Huskies football coaches People from Perry, Ohio Players of American football from Lake County, Ohio San Francisco 49ers coaches St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches