Coach Staley Discussion - Fired

[dmac_bolt]

Remember that Lynn did not have Derwin James in 2019 and 2020, yet the defense was better both of those seasons than it was with James under Staley in 2021. Interesting that in Lynn's first season the team sunk itself at the beginning of the year by starting out 0-4, but finished the season by winning 6 of 7. Staley in his first season started out 4-1 but his team finished losing 3 of 4. Also interesting that Lynn finished his last season 4-0 and that team won 4 of 5 to start 2021. It is said that when a team changes coaches in the off-season, the team that starts the next season is still the team of the previous coach, that it takes a few games for the new coach to exert his full influence over the team. Just food for thought. I'm not a lover of Lynn, I'm just saying Staley has not proven himself to be an upgrade over Lynn, not yet anyway. But it's the Spanos Charger way. Norv to McCoy to Lynn, all ultimately failures, and right now Staley doesn't look any different.

I didn’t like the end of last season. I don’t know what you mean by the Spanos way. I don’t know which if any Spanos were involved in the Staley hire. I’m still a Staley fanboy though so if they were, i applaud them … you can think different. I like the energy, the intellectual enthusiasm, the articulation of approach, the creative flexibility to try different things and not get locked in to “his way”. At least I still think that, another season can change anything.

When I watched the defense last year, what I saw over and over and over was Charger players set perfectly in position to make a play then get completely torched 1x1, hat on hat, pad on pad. I saw talent fail, but thats my eyes and my opinion. Again you can think different. I just rewatched that Denver clip thats posted where the player evades Charger players to gain like 20 or 30 yards. 4 Charger defenders were placed in position on the field to limit it to 5-10 yards and they all failed to take a professional angle and stop the fucker. He can’t run out on the field and take the right angle for them. 2022, NFL Coaches aren’t allowed to teach tackling. They are not given enough field time to dedicate weeks to teaching professionals the proper angle, body positioning, etc. Either defensive players come with it and have the instinct or they don’t - TT has chosen a lot of defenders that do not know take a proper angle and do not know how to tackle professionally. Again: Just. My. Opinion.

[Velo]

I didn’t like the end of last season. I don’t know what you mean by the Spanos way. I don’t know which if any Spanos were involved in the Staley hire. I’m still a Staley fanboy though so if they were, i applaud them … you can think different. I like the energy, the intellectual enthusiasm, the articulation of approach, the creative flexibility to try different things and not get locked in to “his way”. At least I still think that, another season can change anything.

When I watched the defense last year, what I saw over and over and over was Charger players set perfectly in position to make a play then get completely torched 1x1, hat on hat, pad on pad. I saw talent fail, but thats my eyes and my opinion. Again you can think different. I just rewatched that Denver clip thats posted where the player evades Charger players to gain like 20 or 30 yards. 4 Charger defenders were placed in position on the field to limit it to 5-10 yards and they all failed to take a professional angle and stop the fucker. He can’t run out on the field and take the right angle for them. 2022, NFL Coaches aren’t allowed to teach tackling. They are not given enough field time to dedicate weeks to teaching professionals the proper angle, body positioning, etc. Either defensive players come with it and have the instinct or they don’t - TT has chosen a lot of defenders that do not know take a proper angle and do not know how to tackle professionally. Again: Just. My. Opinion.

Here is my opinion in a nutshell: Staley in his first season didn't look any better than Norv, McCoy or Lynn. It remains to be seen whether he is any better than his predecessors.

I said the Spanos Chargers because Telesco was not involved in hiring all of these coaches, the one constant is the Spanos family.

[AK47]

2022, NFL Coaches aren’t allowed to teach tackling. They are not given enough field time to dedicate weeks to teaching professionals the proper angle, body positioning, etc. Either defensive players come with it and have the instinct or they don’t - TT has chosen a lot of defenders that do not know take a proper angle and do not know how to tackle professionally. Again: Just. My. Opinion.

Thats it. I seen enough.

I want each Draftee to compose a 9-page thesis of the history of tackling, the science of tackling, illegal tackling, tackling penalty flag finance, and Critical Tackling Theory.

[equivocation]

Thats it. I seen enough.

I want each Draftee to compose a 9-page thesis of the history of tackling, the science of tackling, illegal tackling, tackling penalty flag finance, and Critical Tackling Theory.

Do you want players who know how to write or players who know how to tackle? These are often inversely related.

[AK47]

Do you want players who know how to write or players who know how to tackle? These are often inversely related.

Dennis Rodman once broke down the science of the "Rebound" by elevating it to great heights as an artform.

Then again Dennis Rodman wore rainbow sherbert hair and married himself. Genius rebounder/defender. Challenged in everything else.

I guess I want a guy with good football IQ, awareness, and above average athleticism. A guy whom has shades of tackling genius.

[Xenos]

Not sure where to put this but here’s some info on the new coaching hires.

Brandon Staley has added five new coaches to his Chargers staff this offseason.

Let’s meet them.


Special-teams coordinator Ryan Ficken
The Chargers hired Ficken on Feb. 3 to replace former special-teams coordinator Derius Swinton, who the team fired five days after the end of the regular season.

Swinton achieved commendable on-field results despite working with a very young and inexperienced group of special-teams players. The Chargers found some stability in that phase after they added kicker Dustin Hopkinsand returner Andre Roberts during the bye in Week 7. Swinton deserves credit for successfully integrating those two veterans into his unit and also for getting improvement out of his young coverage players and return blockers over the course of the season. The Chargers ranked 21st in special-teams EPA from Week 10 on, according to TruMedia. And they finished 18th in weighted special-teams DVOA, Football Outsiders’ efficiency metric that puts more emphasis on recent games. Swinton was given a pretty barren cupboard when he arrived in the winter of 2021, and he helped turn the Chargers special teams into a functional unit by the end of the season.

But as general manager Tom Telesco said at his end-of-season news conference, Swinton was not a “perfect fit.” My read on the situation is that Swinton’s coaching style and personality did not marry with Staley’s vision. And so Staley went and found that “perfect fit” in Ficken.

Ficken, 42, had spent his entire NFL coaching career with the Vikings, serving various roles with the organization over 15 seasons under three different head coaches. Ficken, who was a walk-on receiver in college at Arizona State, was hired by Brad Childress in 2007 as the Vikings’ assistant running backs coach. In 2009, he shifted to assistant wide receivers coach for the final two seasons of Childress’ tenure as head coach.

Ficken stayed in that same role when Leslie Frazier was promoted to head coach in 2011 to replace Childress. In 2013, Frazier’s final season with the Vikings, Ficken made the transition to assistant special-teams coach. He stayed on in the same role when Mike Zimmer replaced Frazier in 2014. Ficken served as assistant special-teams coach for Zimmer from 2014 to 2020 before being promoted to special-teams coordinator last season. When Zimmer was fired in January, Ficken became available.

It is impressive that Ficken remained with one organization for that long. The NFL is a difficult business, and coaches tend to bounce around quite a bit. That longevity would seem to point to both his capability as a coach and an ability to fit in and mesh with different personalities.

“The coaches there, when there was turnover, they believed in me and thought I could add value to the organization,” Ficken said Thursday.

In 2013, the Vikings and then-special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer were looking for an assistant special-teams coach after former assistant Chris White left to take a college job at Iowa. Ficken said Priefer had seen him working with special teams during his time as the assistant receivers coach and decided to offer him the role. Priefer is now the Browns’ special-teams coordinator.

“He brought me over to the dark side,” Ficken said, “and I haven’t looked back since.”

Ficken and Staley are close friends with Eaglesdefensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Staley and Gannon grew up together in Ohio. Ficken and Gannon coached together with the Vikings from 2014 to 2017. Gannon was Minnesota’s assistant defensive backs coach. That was the primary connection. Ficken also coached Cordarrelle Patterson for four seasons in Minnesota. Staley coached Patterson for two seasons at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Staley was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Hutchinson from 2010 to 2011. Patterson is slated to become a free agent in March.

Ficken led a notable turnaround in his only season as Vikings special-teams coordinator. The Vikings ranked 31st in special-teams DVOA in 2020 and 13th last season.

On his philosophy, Ficken said, “Keep it simple. That’s my biggest thing. I want to make sure I keep it simple so I can go ahead and allow those guys’ God-given abilities to take over.”

Ficken’s first coaching job was at UCLA, where he served as a graduate assistant from 2004 to 2006. He said he first moved to Newport Beach after college when he was still looking for a job, a short drive from the Chargers’ current facility in Costa Mesa. He then moved to Hermosa Beach before eventually settling in Culver City. So this is very much a full-circle opportunity for Ficken, who is in the process of moving his wife and three children to Southern California.

“It’s exciting,” Ficken said. “Looking forward to the challenge.”


Special-teams assistant Chris Gould
The Chargers announced the hiring of Gould as Ficken’s special-teams assistant this week. He is replacing former special-teams assistant Mayur Chaudhari, who was fired along with Swinton in January.

Gould, 36, is the younger brother of 49erskicker Robbie Gould. He spent the past seven seasons with the Broncos — the first two as a coaching assistant and then the past five as an assistant special-teams coach. Gould and Staley coached together for one season with the Broncos in 2019 on Vic Fangio’s staff.

Gould was a punter and kicker in college at the University of Virginia. He went on to kick for three seasons in the Arena Football League — two years with the Chicago Rush and one with the Arizona Rattlers. He was then hired as a special-teams quality control coach for Syracuse in 2012. He spent three seasons there before joining the Broncos.

Gould brings specialist expertise to the staff at a time of transition for the Chargers’ specialist group. Hopkins and long snapper Matt Overton are both set to become unrestricted free agents. So is Roberts. And punter Ty Longis a pending restricted free agent.

“He’s a phenomenal coach,” Ficken said of Gould. “He’s got a great background with some of these specialists.”

Ficken said he was involved in Gould’s hiring process. He also said Gould’s responsibilities will stretch beyond just specialists.

“He might have a niche in that because he was a kicker,” Ficken said. “But he’s a well-rounded coach.”


Offensive line coach Brendan Nugent
The Chargers offense had an outstanding season in 2021. They finished fourth in both offensive EPA/play and Football Outsiders’ offensive DVOA. That efficiency and productivity, rather predictably, led to some brain drain from the offensive staff. Coordinator Joe Lombardi interviewed for the Texans’ head-coaching vacancy. Wide receivers coach Chris Beatty reportedly interviewed for the Vikings’ offensive coordinator job. Tight ends coach Kevin Koger reportedly interviewed for the Packers’ OC job.

Only one coach was poached, though, and that was offensive line coach and run game coordinator Frank Smith, who was hired as the offensive coordinator on Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins staff. Smith did a tremendous job with the Chargers’ offensive line this past season. He got an influx of talent between Corey Linsley, Matt Feiler and Rashawn Slater. But he navigated some significant injuries to Oday Aboushi and Bryan Bulaga and had that group, on aggregate, playing well, particularly in pass protection. Slater had an All-Pro season as a rookie. The Chargers allowed the fourth-lowest pressure rate in the league in 2021, according to TruMedia.

Nugent, 39, will replace Smith. Nugent spent the past seven seasons with the Saints. He was the assistant offensive line coach from 2017 to 2019, then was promoted to run game coordinator and assistant offensive line coach in 2020. He served as the Saints’ offensive line coach last season.

Lombardi worked with Nugent on Sean Payton’s Saints staff for five seasons. Lombardi was the Saints’ quarterbacks coach from 2016 to 2020. Nugent should be very familiar with Lombardi’s scheme, so this hire makes a lot of sense. Payton, of course, retired this offseason.


Pass game specialist Tom Arth
Tom Arth coached with Brandon Staley at John Carroll and will reunite with the Chargers. (John Reed / USA Today)

Arth and Staley go way back. They first crossed paths in 2013 when Arth was the head coach at Division III John Carroll and Staley was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach. Staley left for a season in 2014 to coach at James Madison before returning to Arth’s John Carroll staff for two more seasons as DC from 2015 to 2016.

In 2017, Arth, 40, left John Carroll to become the head coach at Chattanooga, which plays in the FCS. He spent two seasons in that role before rising to the FBS and taking the head coaching job at Akron, where he coached for the last three seasons. Meanwhile, Staley left for the NFL in 2017 to join up with Fangio in Chicago.

Arth was fired from Akron in early November after compiling a 3-24 record — though it’s worth mentioning that the university was dealing with COVID-19-related financial issues during his tenure.

Amid these issues, Staley had reportedly targeted Arth for his initial staff last offseason. Now that Arth was a free agent, he made the move to Southern California.


Offensive assistant Mike Hiestand
Hiestand spent the last three seasons working on Fangio’s defensive staff with the Broncos. He was a defensive quality control coach and assistant to the head coach in 2019 and 2020 and was the assistant defensive line coach and assistant to the head coach in 2021. Hiestand and Staley were on the same Fangio staff in 2019.

The Chargers announced Hiestand as an offensive assistant, which is interesting considering his playing and coaching history is all on the defensive side. Hiestand was a linebacker in college at Illinois State. He was a defensive grad assistant at Florida International in 2013 and at Notre Dame from 2014 to 2015. He then served as defensive coordinator at Ave Maria University — an NAIA school — from 2016 to 2018 before joining the Broncos.

Hiestand specialized in defensive line last season, and that position group was obviously a weakness for the Chargers in 2021. Giff Smithremains the defensive line coach, but he was a holdover from Anthony Lynn’s staff under defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. Staley had issues translating his run defense scheme to the players early last season and he and defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill basically overhauled that entire phase of the defense during the bye. That led to some improvement over the second half of the season. Perhaps Hiestand will bring added fluency in the scheme after coaching with Fangio for the past three seasons.

We will find out more about Hiestand’s specific role when we talk to Staley next week at the combine in Indianapolis.

[powderblueboy]

Dennis Rodman once broke down the science of the "Rebound" by elevating it to great heights as an artform.

Then again Dennis Rodman wore rainbow sherbert hair and married himself. Genius rebounder/defender. Challenged in everything else.

I guess I want a guy with good football IQ, awareness, and above average athleticism. A guy whom has shades of tackling genius.

One famous Ram defensive player once said: "God dammit George (Allen), do you want me to hit the quarterback or tackle the running back!"

[BlazingBolt]

on Pat Mcaffee today

[Bolt4Knob]

Blurb from Peter Kings FMIA article about Brandon Staley and the fourth down call against the Raiders at his own 18. Two points: 1) worst team in net punting as STaley points out - I thought that played part of it as with our punting - Raiders would have been pretty close to FG Range anyway (Matt Araiza come on down!) 2) He is not changing and I think thats good!!

Question I’ve been dying to ask


Lobby couch, Le Meridien Hotel, Thursday, 7:15 a.m.

“What was your thought process, going for it on fourth-and-one from your own 18 in the third quarter at Vegas in the last game of the year?” I said.

Chargers coach Brandon Staley has thought about this quite a bit, of course. With nine minutes left in the third quarter at Las Vegas, winner goes to the playoffs and loser goes home, the Raiders led 17-14. The Chargers’ offense was stalled. Staley had been aggressive all season, and this day would be no difference. He’d go for it on fourth down seven times in the biggest game of the year. Now was no exception.

Staley:

“First, it was a crazy environment. If you were there in person, you’d know. Totally electric. It was a playoff game

“We get off to a good start on the drive and then it’s third-and-one. We don’t make it. At that point, fourth-and-one at our 18, I just felt like Vegas wasn’t a great short-yardage team, and our punter had struggled. We were the worst net punting team in the league. I really felt like we could get this thing off the ground. On fourth-and-one, everyone’s gonna tell you percentage-wise, go for it. It’s a no brainer in terms of that.”

At your own 18? Not sure about that.

“I felt like at that time, this is gonna get us into rhythm. I really liked the way we were playing on defense. We had put the cuffs on them defensively … They’re not gonna expect us to go for it, number one. They’re not expecting this. And then we didn’t get it. [Austin Ekeler was tackled for a loss of two yards.] So we stopped them right away and they kicked a field goal. Now, talk about the analytics. I had done that during the season. I had done that at different points, kind of a nontraditional fourth-and-one. What happens is on the other side there’s kinda like this effect when you make it that you can see on the sideline. I was hoping for that effect and didn’t get it. I take full responsibility for it and I can see why people would be critical of me.

“A couple days ago, I did a huge [report] on my game management. Timeouts, end-game and the half strategy, fourth downs. I’m like, ‘I’m really proud … a first-year coach, and everyone’s saying, ‘What are his chops gonna be like when you gotta have it?’ I mean, I felt like I was as good as anybody in the league in those situations because I had spent the whole offseason, I spent my whole life like getting ready for it. Our staff, we were connected on how we wanted to play. Our players, they knew how we wanted to play and we just were committed to doing this. I feel like how we played in that game was a reflection of how special we’re gonna be.

“I regret losing. But I don’t regret that decision.”

The Chargers were six of seven on fourth-down attempts that day and 22 of 34 (.647) on the season. My belief is Staley shouldn’t change. The Raiders did win the game by three (the late-game weirdness about playing for a tie probably played into some of that), but last season the Chargers got more good out of the aggressiveness than bad. Staley should repeat his boldness this year.

[ChargersPowderBlue]

Remember that Lynn did not have Derwin James in 2019 and 2020, yet the defense was better both of those seasons than it was with James under Staley in 2021.

The 2019 team was 29th on third down defense. That isn't far away from the 2021 defense who is last in the league (32nd). The 2021 team had a very bad run defense compared to the 2019 team, yet the 2021 team had a better record.

If you take away the 17th game, the Vikings game where they lost, you have a 9-7 team. That would be the same record as 2020. The 2020 team was the precursor to the 2021 team.

Lets face it. The talent of this team has been overrated these last 3 years. Only until this recent season people started waking up, except the people who knew better. People keep looking for things to blame the team's failures on, if it's not one damn thing it's another damn thing.

Here is my opinion in a nutshell: Staley in his first season didn't look any better than Norv, McCoy or Lynn. It remains to be seen whether he is any better than his predecessors.

Norv Turner isn't as bad as people make him out to be. He's underrated. He got the team to an AFC Championship game, where the team hasn't made it as far since then. You can say he did that with Marty's team, but it's still an accomplishment nevertheless. His teams won the division the first 3 years of his coaching regime. You can say how the AFC West was weak during all those years. But the same can be said about the Chiefs benefitting from a weak division in these last 6 years of their rule on the AFC West.

Staley's problem is his overconfidence. He likes to bring out the big guns. His decisions can make him look arrogant when things are going as he or the team or the fans want things them to be. He has things to learn. I wasn't too readily wanting to jump on the bandwagon, but I see his potential and why fans liked his hiring. I don't know if he'll be as good as Belichick, Reid, or Mcvay. I do see that he can be in the same tier as a Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh. We'll see how he improves when he can bring in more players that he wants. Staley has some of Lynn's players, and there are players from Lynn's teams who won't be around anymore.

[Bolt4Knob]

The 2019 team was 29th on third down defense. That isn't far away from the 2021 defense who is last in the league (32nd). The 2021 team had a very bad run defense compared to the 2019 team, yet the 2021 team had a better record.

If you take away the 17th game, the Vikings game where they lost, you have a 9-7 team. That would be the same record as 2020. The 2020 team was the precursor to the 2021 team.

Lets face it. The talent of this team has been overrated these last 3 years. Only until this recent season people started waking up, except the people who knew better. People keep looking for things to blame the team's failures on, if it's not one damn thing it's another damn thing.



Norv Turner isn't as bad as people make him out to be. He's underrated. He got the team to an AFC Championship game, where the team hasn't made it as far since then. You can say he did that with Marty's team, but it's still an accomplishment nevertheless. His teams won the division the first 3 years of his coaching regime. You can say how the AFC West was weak during all those years. But the same can be said about the Chiefs benefitting from a weak division in these last 6 years of their rule on the AFC West.

Staley's problem is his overconfidence. He likes to bring out the big guns. His decisions can make him look arrogant when things are going as he or the team or the fans want things them to be. He has things to learn. I wasn't too readily wanting to jump on the bandwagon, but I see his potential and why fans liked his hiring. I don't know if he'll be as good as Belichick, Reid, or Mcvay. I do see that he can be in the same tier as a Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh. We'll see how he improves when he can bring in more players that he wants. Staley has some of Lynn's players, and there are players from Lynn's teams who won't be around anymore.

This is why I am not beholden to Jones, Nwosu or Kyzir White. Mike Williams is a foregone conclusion. But , the other three, if they can improve those positions with players of similar age but better for the system, I am all for it.

[Xenos]

Blurb from Peter Kings FMIA article about Brandon Staley and the fourth down call against the Raiders at his own 18. Two points: 1) worst team in net punting as STaley points out - I thought that played part of it as with our punting - Raiders would have been pretty close to FG Range anyway (Matt Araiza come on down!) 2) He is not changing and I think thats good!!

Question I’ve been dying to ask


Lobby couch, Le Meridien Hotel, Thursday, 7:15 a.m.

“What was your thought process, going for it on fourth-and-one from your own 18 in the third quarter at Vegas in the last game of the year?” I said.

Chargers coach Brandon Staley has thought about this quite a bit, of course. With nine minutes left in the third quarter at Las Vegas, winner goes to the playoffs and loser goes home, the Raiders led 17-14. The Chargers’ offense was stalled. Staley had been aggressive all season, and this day would be no difference. He’d go for it on fourth down seven times in the biggest game of the year. Now was no exception.

Staley:

“First, it was a crazy environment. If you were there in person, you’d know. Totally electric. It was a playoff game

“We get off to a good start on the drive and then it’s third-and-one. We don’t make it. At that point, fourth-and-one at our 18, I just felt like Vegas wasn’t a great short-yardage team, and our punter had struggled. We were the worst net punting team in the league. I really felt like we could get this thing off the ground. On fourth-and-one, everyone’s gonna tell you percentage-wise, go for it. It’s a no brainer in terms of that.”

At your own 18? Not sure about that.

“I felt like at that time, this is gonna get us into rhythm. I really liked the way we were playing on defense. We had put the cuffs on them defensively … They’re not gonna expect us to go for it, number one. They’re not expecting this. And then we didn’t get it. [Austin Ekeler was tackled for a loss of two yards.] So we stopped them right away and they kicked a field goal. Now, talk about the analytics. I had done that during the season. I had done that at different points, kind of a nontraditional fourth-and-one. What happens is on the other side there’s kinda like this effect when you make it that you can see on the sideline. I was hoping for that effect and didn’t get it. I take full responsibility for it and I can see why people would be critical of me.

“A couple days ago, I did a huge [report] on my game management. Timeouts, end-game and the half strategy, fourth downs. I’m like, ‘I’m really proud … a first-year coach, and everyone’s saying, ‘What are his chops gonna be like when you gotta have it?’ I mean, I felt like I was as good as anybody in the league in those situations because I had spent the whole offseason, I spent my whole life like getting ready for it. Our staff, we were connected on how we wanted to play. Our players, they knew how we wanted to play and we just were committed to doing this. I feel like how we played in that game was a reflection of how special we’re gonna be.

“I regret losing. But I don’t regret that decision.”

The Chargers were six of seven on fourth-down attempts that day and 22 of 34 (.647) on the season. My belief is Staley shouldn’t change. The Raiders did win the game by three (the late-game weirdness about playing for a tie probably played into some of that), but last season the Chargers got more good out of the aggressiveness than bad. Staley should repeat his boldness this year.

Hopefully we get a good replacement for Dan Shamash then because he played an important role in the 4th down analytics.