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

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

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

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as the

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

for the

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

in 2020 and also served as an assistant coach for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Playing career

Staley went to the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

and started two years at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the Flyers guiding the team to a 16–5 record from 2003 to 2004. He finished his playing career at

Mercyhurst College (Seize the day) , former_names = Mercyhurst College (1926–2012) , established = , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Sisters of Mercy) , endowment = $31.8 million , faculty = 136 full-time , administrat ...

, 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 respons ...

at Northern Illinois from 2006 to 2008 before working with defensive linemen and special teams at Division III St. Thomas in 2009. In 2010 and 2011 Staley served as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at

Hutchinson Community College Hutchinson Community College (HutchCC or HCC) is a public community college in Hutchinson, Kansas, United States. It serves nearly 5,000 credit students every semester. History The college was established in the spring of 1928 as Hutchinson Ju ...

. He spent the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

season at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

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

John Carroll University John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3, ...

. 2014 was spent as the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

Chicago Bears

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, 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 head coach

Vic Fangio Victor Mick Fangio (born August 22, 1958) is an American football coach who is the defensive consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Fangio most recently served as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the ...

Los Angeles Rams

On January 16, 2020, Staley was hired by the

as their defensive coordinator, replacing

Wade Phillips Harold Wade Phillips (born June 21, 1947) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL. He has served as head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys. He has also ser ...

. In his only year as coordinator in 2020, Staley helped guide the Rams defense to 1st 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

. On September 12, 2021, Staley made his regular-season head coaching debut against

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and led the Chargers to a 20–16 victory. Staley led the Chargers to a 9–7 record through the first 16 games of the season. However, against the

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

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 12. 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 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

Rich Bisaccia Richard Bisaccia (born June 3, 1960) is an American football coach who is the special teams coordinator for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys, San Dieg ...

stated that “the timeout was really irrelevant.”

Head coaching record

Personal life

Staley was diagnosed at 24 years old 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 patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...

, but has been cancer-free for over a decade following chemotherapy at the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

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

References

External links

Los Angeles Chargers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staley, Brandon 1982 births Living people American football quarterbacks People from Perry, Ohio Sportspeople from Greater Cleveland Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Dayton Flyers football players Mercyhurst Lakers football players Northern Illinois Huskies football coaches St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies football coaches Hutchinson Blue Dragons football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches John Carroll Blue Streaks football coaches James Madison Dukes football coaches Chicago Bears coaches Denver Broncos coaches Los Angeles Rams coaches National Football League defensive coordinators Los Angeles Chargers head coaches