Brandon Staley, Former Rams DC - New Chargers Head Coach

[jamrock]

Peter King talks about Staley and how he was the Chargers guy all along:

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/01/18/chiefs-chad-henne-nfl-playoffs-fmia-peter-king/

Let’s face it Jalen Ramsey isn’t the easiest guy to deal with. He gained his trust by showing him that he studied his game and had a role for him that would take advantage of his strengths. That’s what I want a coach to do. Put guys in places where they will succeed

[Heatmiser]

I watched the interview in which Ramsey said how he feels about Staley. It was an end of year presser and it was right before the Chargers hired Staley. Ramsey is pretty articulate and was thoughtful in his answers but you can see he has an attitude. He really, truly loves Staley though. He was effusive in his praise. And he loves his teammates. And the next question after Staley was about what the Rams need to do to get better and his whole demeanor changed and he kind of mumbled no comment. Not sure how happy he is with the Rams right now but hard to tell and their season just ended. He might be one of those guys who is always somewhat unhappy?

TG

[21&500]

Let’s face it Jalen Ramsey isn’t the easiest guy to deal with. He gained his trust by showing him that he studied his game and had a role for him that would take advantage of his strengths. That’s what I want a coach to do. Put guys in places where they will succeed

this is what I call “substance based leadership”
when you have the answers, it’s convincing and buys you credibility
vs what many call leadership, which is what Lynn does and look very strong and confident and talk about things we all know and use key words like “responsibility” and “character”
I still think it’s early to crown Staley based off the fact that he got Ramsey to respect him, but it’s a great sign

[gzubeck]

I watched the interview in which Ramsey said how he feels about Staley. It was an end of year presser and it was right before the Chargers hired Staley. Ramsey is pretty articulate and was thoughtful in his answers but you can see he has an attitude. He really, truly loves Staley though. He was effusive in his praise. And he loves his teammates. And the next question after Staley was about what the Rams need to do to get better and his whole demeanor changed and he kind of mumbled no comment. Not sure how happy he is with the Rams right now but hard to tell and their season just ended. He might be one of those guys who is always somewhat unhappy?

TG

#1 defense and sucky offense....what can you say like Bosa.... "Clearly there are problems!"

[BoltUp InLA]

Here we go again....

How do you know the Bills could or could not run the ball, or at least incorporate the running back in short yardage passing when they only attempted any type of rushing twice in the first half? How is it a great gameplan to go into a game with a high wind advisory, where even one of the best kickers in the league couldn't knock in chipshot field goals, and attempt to lob it all over the field? The drive where they actually scored their their lone offensive TD in the game incorporated Devin Singletary in short yardage passing to their back, which I consider to be an extension of the run game, and a few attempts at rushing which gave them the go ahead to throw to Stefon Diggs for the TD.

"Buffalo’s offensive plan was obvious from the start. They attempted 22 passes compared to two rushes. Of those two rushes, one was a Josh Allen scramble. The quarterback went 13-of-22 for 120 passing yards in the first half. The Ravens did what many defense struggled to do against Buffalo: Limit explosive plays by the Bills’ playmakers.

Buffalo’s offensive game plan altered a little bit in the second half because of that. The Bills shifted to a passing attack that focused on shorter routes. They also got running back Devin Singletary involved in the mix, as he had four touches on the half’s opening drive. Finally, the Bills broke through, as Allen found Stefon Diggs on a wide receiver screen from three yards out to score what would be the game’s only offensive touchdown." https://billswire.usatoday.com/2021/...lamar-jackson/

And just to point out, I never put emphasis on what actually won the Bills the game in my original post, I used a conjunction and pointed out the defense first. Again, the only offensive TD came from when they incorporated Devin Singletary and short yardage throws, and it's obvious it was primarily the defense that won the game.

As far Belichick being responsible for Brady's development, well, I'd like to fucking think that the head coach of a team that implements the overall philosophy, culture (which is now part of popular lore - The Patriot Way) and acquires the staff and in Belichick's case, the talent would have a large role in their development. Brady won a Superbowl in his first year as full-time starter, and two more all before McDaniels was a blip on anyone's radar for offensive coordinator (he was a defensive assistant the first 2 years), yet I'm fairly certain that Belichick was a constant and had a large part in this successful run. It's somewhat humorous to sit and read that Brady's development was delayed in the face of evidence above. He was already a top 10 QB, and this is all before rule enforcements/changes, scheme changes to exploit said rules and physical upgrades in athletes that dominated the league later in the decade. This was certainly before McDaniels stepped in 2006 as OC which coincided with Brady's prime years, and had Randy Moss brought in 2007. I won't argue that McDaniels had a role in Brady's development somewhere, but I cannot discount the head coach of a franchise has a huge part in that role for the reasons I outlined above.

Also, I have to mention that your supposed "normal career arc" for QBs is overstated, especially if we are looking at the time frames.

Prior to 2008, a QB has only surpassed 5,000 yards passing in a season only a single time. Brees became the second QB to reach that milestone in 2008. In 2011, 3 QBs alone topped 5,000 passing yards. Only 10 years prior, surpassing 7.0 YPA for a QB was considered very good. Only 11 QBs would reach that mark. 10 QBs surpassed that mark in 2003. By 2008, 17 QBs reached that mark. Over the years, we've changed what we have come to expect from QBs. A 60% completion percentage was once considered a milestone for a successful season. In 1983, only 8 QBs completed over 60% of their passes. 20 QBs surpassed that in 2010. Now, that is just the baseline for a QB. In 1983, when the defense still had an even ground, 10 QBs had 5% or more of their passes intercepted, including John Elway and Ken Stabler. Only 4 QBs, including Dan Marino, had less than 3% of their passes intercepted. In 2010, only a single QB had 5% or more of his passes be intercepted. Why you may ask this was the case? Well, some of it had partly to do with rule changes or enforcement of old rules that had been laxed prior and given priority that you may be understating. Good article and Reddit thread(s) about the 2004 re-emphasis on the 1994 5-yard illegal contact rule below.

"The impact of this new emphasis on unimpeded receivers will be huge. Go back to 1994 when the rule was put in. Passing yardage went up a total of 26 yards per game (from 401.2 to 427.2, second highest in the modern era). Average completions went from 11.6 to 11.7. Average attempt went from 5.8 yards to 6. Scoring went from 37.4 to 40.9 per game.

Expect the same types of increases this season. More teams will have the ability to pass for 4,500 yards. Games will be higher scoring.

The downside is that the first month of the season may be ugly because of the number of penalties that will have to be called to break the habits of physical cornerbacks. In 1994, the first year of the "chucking" revision, 117 illegal contact penalties were called. Flags were thrown so often in the first part of that season that officials started feeling sorry for defensive backs. With the gray area of the rules revision, less penalties were called in the second half of the season and only 53 and 50 were called the next two seasons.

It's not out of the question for a record number of illegal contact penalties to be called given the history that more were called in 1994 than in 1995 and 1996 combined.

The rest of the impact will be speculation. Offensive coaches tell you they expect more man-to-man coverage at the line of scrimmage. I don't know if I believe that. There aren't as many cornerback who have the ability to jam a receiver at the line and stay with him after five yards without the ability to grab him after five yards. Receivers are getting to be bigger and strong while the average cornerback hasn't significant grown or gotten that much faster.

Advantage, receiver.

Every few years, the NFL adjusts rules to open up offenses. This new emphasis on calling penalties for extra contact will be huge this season." https://www.espn.com/nfl/columns/sto...ohn&id=1840261

Good outline in this Reddit thread as well. https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comment...ake_it_easier/

"In 1996, the NFL announced they'd actually enforce the illegal contact penalty, created in 1978, more stringently than before. The rule was no longer just a recommendation. In 2001, the NFL announced Roughing the QB penalty would be enforced more strictly and specifically targeted late hits. By 2002, they protected the QB even further by barring helmet-to-helmet contact with a QB at any time, even after a change of possession.

The NFL again tightened down enforcement of already existing rules for illegal contact, pass interference, and defensive holding in 2004. QBs received even more protection in 2006 when the NFL barred hits to the QBs below their knees unless the defensive player was blocked into the QB. WRs saw additional protection in 2009 when contact to the head of a defenseless receiver was prohibited. The NFL expanded the rules for defenseless receivers to include all players in 2010. They also threatened an additional crackdown on these penalties and threatened players with suspensions

Another thing people often forget about is the evolution of the tight end. Tight ends used to almost exclusively be used for blocking, and the semi-recent emergence of receiving tight ends has allowed QBs to have an extra big bodied receiver to create mis matches, and has added another player to check down to."

Good additional Reddit threads on this as well:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/7gnckf/what_exactly_was_the_2004_rule_change/

https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comment...legal_contact/

Good charts on the efficacy of the passing game over time, particularly the timeframe we're talking about: http://archive.advancedfootballanaly...g-in-2011.html

To end this, for my dollar, I measure success of a team, and by extension their quarterback by wins in the postseason and Superbowl appearances, not by their quarterback throwing for 5,000 yards and 40 TDs in what ultimately may amount to meaningless seasons and statistics. If yards and passing attempts were the barometer for ultimate success, we'd have Jameis Winston and Dak Prescott having deep playoff runs, but that is not the case.

I'm fairly certain if you ask any quarterback what means more to them in their journeys, I'm sure they'll agree with the above, as while individual accolades are important, it's still a team game, and ultimately, why the likes of Eli Manning and probably even Jim Plunkett will be in the Hall of Fame eventually.

Very informative post!! The insights gathered from this site has been absolutely great for me.. Thank you!!

[Heatmiser]

Something I just heard about Staley, that I thought made sense and hasn't been raised. Because McVay is an offensive guy and calls the plays and is super involved in the offense, it is a pretty sure bet he let Staley run the defense all the way. So the Chargers got a coach that they know was absolutely in control and responsible for the results of the unit he coordinated. No wondering how much was him and how much was really McVay. Sort of the anti-Bienemy if you will.

Also, this is my own musing. Chargers might feel that Herbert is so smart and talented that they don't need to hire a HC based mostly on his further development. I mean, as a rookie, with no OTAs, a brand new to the team and system QB coach, an inexperienced OC, a really poor game managing HC, and a terrible OL, Herbert played like a top 10 QB already.

Last thing...I watched the Arthur Smith introductory presser. He is the oldest looking 38 year old I have ever seen. He is nervous and robotic and uninspiring. Talked in platitudes the whole time. Only time he seemed human was when someone asked him about comic book characters. I was not impressed. But hey, its just a presser. Just wonder if that is how he interviewed?

TG

[21&500]

Something I just heard about Staley, that I thought made sense and hasn't been raised. Because McVay is an offensive guy and calls the plays and is super involved in the offense, it is a pretty sure bet he let Staley run the defense all the way. So the Chargers got a coach that they know was absolutely in control and responsible for the results of the unit he coordinated. No wondering how much was him and how much was really McVay. Sort of the anti-Bienemy if you will.

Also, this is my own musing. Chargers might feel that Herbert is so smart and talented that they don't need to hire a HC based mostly on his further development. I mean, as a rookie, with no OTAs, a brand new to the team and system QB coach, an inexperienced OC, a really poor game managing HC, and a terrible OL, Herbert played like a top 10 QB already.

Last thing...I watched the Arthur Smith introductory presser. He is the oldest looking 38 year old I have ever seen. He is nervous and robotic and uninspiring. Talked in platitudes the whole time. Only time he seemed human was when someone asked him about comic book characters. I was not impressed. But hey, its just a presser. Just wonder if that is how he interviewed?

TG

Good points.
and I really appreciate the bolded part. Might be something, might be nothing but that’s not a good sign for Falcon fans. Ha.

[Bolt4Knob]

Something I just heard about Staley, that I thought made sense and hasn't been raised. Because McVay is an offensive guy and calls the plays and is super involved in the offense, it is a pretty sure bet he let Staley run the defense all the way. So the Chargers got a coach that they know was absolutely in control and responsible for the results of the unit he coordinated. No wondering how much was him and how much was really McVay. Sort of the anti-Bienemy if you will.

Also, this is my own musing. Chargers might feel that Herbert is so smart and talented that they don't need to hire a HC based mostly on his further development. I mean, as a rookie, with no OTAs, a brand new to the team and system QB coach, an inexperienced OC, a really poor game managing HC, and a terrible OL, Herbert played like a top 10 QB already.

Last thing...I watched the Arthur Smith introductory presser. He is the oldest looking 38 year old I have ever seen. He is nervous and robotic and uninspiring. Talked in platitudes the whole time. Only time he seemed human was when someone asked him about comic book characters. I was not impressed. But hey, its just a presser. Just wonder if that is how he interviewed?

TG

I saw a little of Smith and yes, first, he is a very old looking 38 year old. But what I saw - you were correct. Maybe it was just nerves

I look forward to Staley tomorrow. See how he presents himself.

Good point about Staley running the defense - thats a good observation that Staley probably had more say in the offense than say Kevin O'Connell just by adding play calling duties

[AK47]

I saw a little of Smith and yes, first, he is a very old looking 38 year old. But what I saw - you were correct. Maybe it was just nerves

I look forward to Staley tomorrow. See how he presents himself.

Good point about Staley running the defense - thats a good observation that Staley probably had more say in the offense than say Kevin O'Connell just by adding play calling duties

In vid clips of him talking to defensive units and players (star players too) you see very little in generic "Keep pounding" one liners and more 3-4 sentences of real-time and situation-specific data that provides a clear pathway towards winning on the next couple of plays.

[CivilBolt]

Let’s face it Jalen Ramsey isn’t the easiest guy to deal with. He gained his trust by showing him that he studied his game and had a role for him that would take advantage of his strengths. That’s what I want a coach to do. Put guys in places where they will succeed

Instead of Gus’ approach to dumb it down making it easy for the opposing qb to diagnose :banghead:

I can’t wait for this D to go against Lock and make him look silly.

[Heatmiser]

In vid clips of him talking to defensive units and players (star players too) you see very little in generic "Keep pounding" one liners and more 3-4 sentences of real-time and situation-specific data that provides a clear pathway towards winning on the next couple of plays.

That’s a great observation that I didn’t realize until you pointed it out. Now that you did, yes, saw lots of clips of that. Even last game when Ramsey was all hot after that TD and started ranting on the sidelines, Staley let him go a little then held up a finger and started talking and using the iPad and Ramsey calmed right down. You can only yell “Do your job!” so many times. And it doesn’t help when you DID do your job and got outschemed.

Great point

TG

[Fleet]

This sort of feels like a Harbaugh type hire to me. Went from DB coach to HC. Was known as a football savant within coaching circles. Harbaugh was brought in for his football IQ. I think we are trending away from old school football in the league and some of these really cerebral young guys are where the league is headed.

Its still all about basics and fundamentals though. So i hope we can get back to basics. Like tackling and proper gap assignments. Fits etc.

Really think he is salivating over some of the young talent we have on that side of the ball. I kind of feel like we could go all in on either side of the ball in the draft and put either side in the top 5. Offense of defense. Go all offense and we are set. Go all defense and we are set. That wont happen of course so i guess im just saying that i feel like maybe we are 2 drafts away from long term dominance.

But you never know. He may finally get something out of players who haven't developed yet.