Brandon Staley, Tom Telesco fired by Chargers

August 08, 2024

The Los Angeles Chargers followed a performance about as dreadful as they come Thursday night by firing coach Brandon Staley on Friday.

Staley’s dismissal seemed increasingly inevitable during a season in which the Chargers have struggled to a 5-9 record. The team made the move on the day after a 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chargers trailed 42-0 at halftime of that game in Las Vegas, matching the second-largest halftime deficit in NFL history.

The Chargers also announced Friday that they had fired general manager Tom Telesco.

we have parted ways with Head Coach Brandon Staley and General Manager Tom Telesco

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) December 15, 2023

“These decisions are never easy, nor are they something I take lightly — especially when you consider the number of people they impact,” Chargers owner Dean Spanos said in a written statement released by the team. “We are clearly not where we expect to be, however, and we need new vision. Doing nothing in the name of continuity was not a risk I was willing to take.”

The Chargers named Giff Smith, their outside linebackers coach, their interim coach and elevated JoJo Wooden, their director of player personnel, to interim general manager.

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“Our fans have stood strong through so many ups and downs and close games,” Spanos said. “They deserve more. Frankly, they’ve earned more. Building and maintaining a championship-caliber program remains our ultimate goal. And reimagining how we achieve that goal begins today.”

The 63 points Thursday were the most the Raiders had ever scored in a game and the most the Chargers had ever allowed.

“This was just a really bad game in the NFL where nothing goes right,” Staley said during his postgame news conference. “Everything goes wrong.”

Staley said afterward that he accepted “full responsibility” for Thursday’s outcome, calling the result “a reflection on all of us.” He called the Chargers’ first-half performance “the worst that you can play.”

He was asked during Thursday’s news conference whether he expected to keep his job and said, “I don’t know that.” Asked whether he deserved to retain his job, Staley said, “Yes.”

Staley said he did not question the effort of his players during the game. He said he did not believe there was a disconnect between him and his players.

“I know … what I’ve done here for three years,” Staley said. “And I know what I’ve put into this. I know [where] we’re capable of going. I know the type of coach that I am. I believe in myself. But, again, this isn’t about me. This is about a group that’s hurting in there.”

Staley becomes the third NFL head coach fired this season, following the Raiders’ Josh McDaniels and the Carolina Panthers’ Frank Reich. He coached the Chargers to a record of 24-24, lasting three games shy of three full seasons.

Staley faced criticism for his propensity to gamble on fourth down on offense, seen sometimes as overly aggressive and risky even in this age of analytics-driven sideline decision-making. Staley’s defense mostly did not perform up to expectations. And he failed to get a playoff victory even while coaching one of the NFL’s top young quarterbacks, Justin Herbert.

The Chargers reached the AFC playoffs last season but squandered a 27-0 lead to lose, 31-30, to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a first-round game. There was some speculation following that deflating postseason defeat that Staley might be fired then. But Spanos, who had hired Staley as a relatively low-profile defensive coordinator from Coach Sean McVay’s staff with the Los Angeles Rams, stuck with him at that point.

The Chargers temporarily made Herbert the NFL’s highest-paid player by signing him to a five-year, $262.5 million contract extension in July. Herbert played relatively well this season, with 20 touchdown passes, seven interceptions and a passer rating of 93.2. But the Chargers never were above .500 all season. And they are on a downward spiral, with five losses in their past six games.

Herbert underwent season-ending surgery this week for a fractured index finger on his right hand. Easton Stick took over as the starter Thursday.

The Raiders’ outburst Thursday came four days after they lost, 3-0, to the Minnesota Vikings. On Thursday night, they stretched their lead to 49-0 in the third quarter before the Chargers scored. It was 63-7 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

“That wasn’t us out there,” Staley told Amazon Prime, which was broadcasting the game, at halftime. “Did not come ready to play.”

Former standout NFL cornerback Richard Sherman said on Amazon’s halftime show that Staley deserved to be dismissed. (Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post.)

“It just looks like they’ve given up,” Sherman said of the Chargers. “They’ve quit. … They should fire him at halftime. … I’ve never seen a team come out this uninspired.”

Staley said during his postgame news conference, “I didn’t do anything well enough to get us ready to play tonight.”

He added: “Games like this happen in the NFL to every coach that’s ever coached in this league. You can look at any great coach that’s ever coached in the league. Sometimes games like this happen. And I don’t need to retrace history. But it’s part of sports. Sometimes there are games where it doesn’t go right, none of it. And you’ve got to put it behind you, and you’ve got to move on to the next thing.”

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