Coach Staley Discussion - Fired

[DragonIce]

Just Win Baby!

...and they did. A lot.
I didn't like him either for the obvious reason.
Go Bolts!

Davis' winning ways came to a screeching halt long before he let go of the reigns.

Jerry Jones and Al Davis have an eery similarity. They won big, changed the whole league in various business dynamics, got ego-driven crazy, intruded in team operations and coaching...and littered losses all over their franchises on the back half of their tenure.

Oh...and this: They have/will transfer ownership to entitled children.

Oh...and and this: they both had/have bigger-than-life personalities and skin that looked like it'd got too close to Chernobyl. They were once close friends, if you can imagine.

[Heatmiser]

I get the same feeling, no more taking your foot off the gas on offense or laying back for death by a thousand cuts on defense.

Pretty sure those days are over under Staley. So many bad memories.

Staley will have the team prepared, there won't be mental errors, and the scheme/game plan will be innovative and sound. Some teams may beat us because of superior talent in key areas or a lucky bounce of the ball, but I really do feel the days of the Chargers beating themselves due to stupidity are over. I just don't see Staley forgetting what down it is or how much time is on the clock. Or turtling up on a lead. Or special teams having only 10 men on the field or someone forgetting their blocking assignment on a punt team. Not beating ourselves will be so refreshing. Think about how many losses we fans have suffered because of that stuff!

TG

[Coachmarkos]

I haven't been this excited about a new Chargers coach since... well ever.

Let's hope it translates to wins.

also, I hope the fanbase is patient (at least a little) as people are mentioning...his scheme is complex. May take a while for our team to adjust and excel in it.

[like54ninjas]

I haven't been this excited about a new Chargers coach since... well ever.

Let's hope it translates to wins.

also, I hope the fanbase is patient (at least a little) as people are mentioning...his scheme is complex. May take a while for our team to adjust and excel in it.

Excellent point.

Last offseason was crazy with COVID but the LAR D really came together about 6-8 weeks into the season.
Hopefully with a full offseason the acclamation period is shorter.

[like54ninjas]

On the latest edition of the MMQB, Albert Breer noted how impressed he was with head coach Brandon Staley as the team wrapped up their offseason program last week. Below is what he wrote:

"I liked the vibe coming from Staley, the new Chargers coach, coming out of their offseason program.

He told me a story from the final day of the team's offseason program, on Wednesday, that I thought was interesting.

That morning, new acquisition Oday Aboushi was in the training room and saw Staley coming in. Staley knew Aboushi was headed to Jersey for the summer break, so he asked when he was flying out. "Twelve-thirty, coach," Aboushi responded, knowing they were wrapping up early, at a 11 a.m. "No pressure." As Staley explained to me after, "He said it like in a real subtle, just refreshing, joking way. And it's like O.K., hey, we're on to something here. From the relationship standpoint, I know that's not like a big thing, but it was a little thing today." And that, as Staley continued, reflected how things came together over the last few weeks of an offseason program that was modified after the coach negotiated work conditions with his players. (And maybe in part because they negotiated those conditions.)

"I would just say that when we joined up with these guys for this minicamp, when everyone was together, we felt like a team, it felt like a team," Staley said. "They're completely invested in what we're doing and how we're doing it, because they've been a big part of the process. And I think when you talk to our guys that's what they'll tell you, we've really done this together. And so I think that it's gone well, I know it's early and we haven't done anything, and I'm aware of all that, but I like what I see. I like how our team, our coaches, our players, the sports performance, I like how our team's coming together. And I think that we're going to set ourselves up for a really competitive training camp."

For what it's worth, and with that quarterback of theirs (check out last week's GamePlan on him), I think the Chargers are set up as one of the league's most interesting teams heading into the season."

[sonorajim]

I haven't been this excited about a new Chargers coach since... well ever.

Let's hope it translates to wins.

also, I hope the fanbase is patient (at least a little) as people are mentioning...his scheme is complex. May take a while for our team to adjust and excel in it.

I was jacked about signing Coryell but it's been a long time since '78.

I believe we'll be a better team game 1 and will improve. There will be mistakes but making them at 100mph.
OL, STs, James & Tranquill are Big improvements.

[dmac_bolt]

Pretty sure those days are over under Staley. So many bad memories.

Staley will have the team prepared, there won't be mental errors, and the scheme/game plan will be innovative and sound. Some teams may beat us because of superior talent in key areas or a lucky bounce of the ball, but I really do feel the days of the Chargers beating themselves due to stupidity are over. I just don't see Staley forgetting what down it is or how much time is on the clock. Or turtling up on a lead. Or special teams having only 10 men on the field or someone forgetting their blocking assignment on a punt team. Not beating ourselves will be so refreshing. Think about how many losses we fans have suffered because of that stuff!

TG

If something isn’t working, he won’t keep riding it for 3 quarters. He won’t need to go back and watch the tape to figure out what happened.

[eaterfan]

The Athletic NFL show did an interview with Staley that they released today. It was a good interview but there was nothing earth shattering about it. Below is a link if you want to listen.

https://theathletic.com/podcast/211-the-athletic-football-show/

[Xenos]

Speaking of last week’s game plan, a really good read as well. Read the entire thing since it’s too big to just quote.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/06/17/gameplan-justin-herbert-development-brandon-staley-joe-lombardi

And while Staley knows Herbert’s not going to be Brady, Rodgers or Brees overnight, he and his coaches can accelerate the process. One way they’ve done it: Through nine OTA and two minicamp practices, Herbert and the offense have taken about 65 to 75 reps per session. The 11-on-11 work is at a jog-through pace, with the idea being that the players’ feet are moving slowly, preserving their legs, but their minds are being trained to move fast.

“We put a lot on him because, most times in OTAs, maybe the starting quarterback gets 20 plays or something like that [per practice],” Staley said. “The way we were doing it, it was 65 to 75 plays in a script, which is a lot to prepare for. There was a lot of offense we put in.”

There was a lot of defense Staley put in, too, which was wholly by design. Coming from the Vic Fangio school, Staley believes in scheme diversity on that side of the ball, and that philosophy has spilled over to how he sees offense now, too. And so what that adds up to for Herbert is not only running a lot of offense, but also having to digest a lot of defense over those snaps in the spring.

Or to put it more succinctly, Herbert’s drinking from the proverbial firehose.

“And then they’re throwing a lot at us because we’re having to defend a lot. We’re having to defend one of the premium systems in the league,” Staley said. “And so there’s dual benefit on both sides. We’re having to defend a ton of groupings, a ton of formations, with a ton of motions, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Jared Cook, Austin Ekeler—they’re over there. It’s not full speed, but your mind is going full speed. Your mind is in this environment that we just had for four weeks. These guys are responsible for a lot.

“And we felt like because of it, we’ll be ready to have a really good training camp. And so at the front end of things, yeah, it’s going to be tougher on Justin from just a pure volume standpoint. But then we think cumulative effect will take over and that over time he will be really calm, because he’s been exposed to so much.”

[Heatmiser]

Coaches I was most excited about when they came to the Chargers:

1. Don Coryell
2. Bobby Ross
3. Mike Mccoy (sorry! I was so wrong)

Coach I am most excited about after he was hired, admitting I knew nothing about him prior to listening to him after being hired:

1. Brandon Staley

Coach I said "Oh no, please no. Not him!" but then grew to love:

1. Marty Schottenheimer

Coaches I just said the "oh no, please not him" part to

1. Norv Turner
2. Kevin Gilbride
3. June Jones (interim, thankfully turned the full time job DOWN)
4. Dan Henning

Coaches I said who? to:

1. Mike Riley
2. Anthony Lynn
3. Al Saunders

The others were largely before my time, even though I am old.
TG

[eaterfan]

Speaking of last week’s game plan, a really good read as well. Read the entire thing since it’s too big to just quote.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/06/17/gameplan-justin-herbert-development-brandon-staley-joe-lombardi

Thanks for sharing. It's an incredible read.

[Rugger05]

Here is another good Staley article

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — Brandon Staley couldn’t keep still.

The Los Angeles Chargers’ head coach — hired away from the Rams in January and preparing to open his first NFL training camp in that role — stopped for a day at the QB Collective coaching and quarterback summit in Oceanside as the event’s keynote speaker and to help facilitate an ongoing dialogue about scheme, philosophy and trends among several competing NFL coaches.

As the event unfolded Saturday morning, some coaches, including 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, 49ers quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello and Chargers defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill, sat around a large wooden table and dissected the merits of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system and how it juxtaposes to and clashes schematically with Staley’s defensive system — itself a mad scientist-escaped-from-the-laboratory amalgamation of Broncos defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s system. A dozen other coaches and league personnel sat on couches that were set up around the perimeter of the table, joining in the conversation and occasionally scribbling notes.

The young quarterbacks in the room stared wide-eyed at the coaches, their eyes darting back to Staley, who paced and gestured at the front of the room as he spoke about his background and offered advice on a player’s journey to the NFL as well as a coach’s. When the teaching portion ended and the quarterbacks left, film was turned on and the real chatter among the coaches began. The dialogue was respectful but rippled with electricity as they watched cut-ups of their teams clashing on a large screen positioned at the head of the table. Staley moved to one of the couches but would hop up to the table when the conversation got juicy, unable to help himself from quite literally jumping into the ideas presented.

That, as it turned out, was only the first part of his weekend. He also swung by a seven-on-seven tournament in Long Beach the next day. The Athletic caught up with him in between events to see how his first offseason as a head coach has gone, how he’s developing relationships with his players — including, of course, collaborating with second-year quarterback Justin Herbert, the reigning NFL rookie of the year — what his approach to installing his plan in spring workouts has been and how he has set about planting the first seeds of his coaching philosophy as the Chargers prepare for camp on July 27.

Note: This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

You’re about to jump into it. I know you’ve been preparing, and you had the draft and spring ball, but this is where it starts to get into the real year. Does it feel that way to you?

I think, from a head coaching perspective, that scheduling is really a big part of the job. I think that knowing how far in front of these things you have to be, from a planning and really from a performance standpoint — like some of these nontraditional weeks where you’re going from a Sunday to a Thursday, a Sunday to a Monday, coming off a bye week, going into a bye week — some of that long-term planning and working with our coaching staff and our sports performance team and our personnel department, I think that makes you feel like, “Hey, this is coming. This is happening.”

I pour a lot of time and energy into that because I want our players to know the reason behind everything we do. I feel like I put a lot of time and effort into organizing schedules, whether it’s practice or installation or training camp — or some of these travel schedules, (like) going from a Pacific to an East Coast time slot where it’s a 10 a.m. start time — and putting a lot of energy into that. That’s been a big part of making it feel real. You’re making these schedules because it’s coming fast.

From a microscopic point of view, which is how I prefer to think about it, it’s just about getting training camp off the ground. That’s what’s coming first. That’s been a lot of fun for me. I feel like that’s a sweet spot for me because I like being able to build things. That’s been exciting.



What are a couple of moments in which you’ve started to see the building blocks you’re stacking?

You know, over the summer, (safety) Derwin James had his first child. You know the depth of the relationship you have with him when he sends you the picture of that baby boy from the hospital. And at the same time, he’s watching Washington Football Team film against the Rams! And, you know, asking questions about our game plan and what he’s seeing on tape from them — while he’s in the hospital. I think that shows you’re maybe doing something right.

Just being able to connect with (receiver) Keenan Allen at the U.S. Open. I brought my brother in from Pittsburgh — he had just been named a partner at his firm — and so I surprised him with a trip out here to go to the third round of the U.S. Open. And being able to connect with Keenan at the tournament and walk the course with him and my twin brother, I think you have a strong sense of where you stand with a guy like that — how he has accepted you and where his frame of mind is — a guy who is one of the premier players in the game. Just so excited to compete with him. I feel like, in just a short amount of time, we’ve been able to get really close. Those are the things that I really, really enjoy.

With relationship-building being such a huge part of what you’re doing now, how do you do that authentically?

I think you just do it slowly. I think you do it daily. I don’t think it’s ever one big moment, just a lot of little moments. I think it’s just acknowledging everybody that you see and the small conversations that let everybody know that you’re aware of them and who they are and listening to them.

We had Austin Proehl, who we signed (after the draft) from North Carolina, who is best friends with Mitch Trubisky (who Staley knew during his time in Chicago as an outside linebackers coach), who is from where I’m from in Ohio, and valuing him the same way that I do Keenan Allen and getting to know him. (Center) Corey Linsley, he had a baby a couple of weeks ago back in Columbus, and he was able to come back and forth during the spring. (His wife) Anna and my wife kind of got to know each other. So, you do the best you can with everybody and know that each relationship is different; it has a life of its own. And all you can do is make sure that you do the best you can with all of the people that you’re with and knowing that they’re all different. And the more you get to know them, you’ll know how much or how little of a relationship you’ll have with them. It can’t be the same with everybody. … But the fact that you have one is what’s most important to me.

Really, I think (you can) learn a lot through your coaching staff. Your coaching staff can have a more intimate view of their position group. … It’s daily. That’s a big part of your role as the head coach is to have the pulse of your team — not only your players but your coaching staff. It takes a lot of investment, and I’m sort of built for that. That’s what I really like to do.

I even heard that offensive line coach Frank Smith moved his office so it’s like an entry and exit point of the building for the linemen.

Yeah, we want to live the mission. We talk about “our way” being relationships and competition, and if that’s going to be at the forefront of everything that we do, then each individual coach in their own way has to make that a big part of their own mission statement. I think why Frank is a special coach is that he understands how to connect with his guys. He understands what a dynamic group an O-line room is and how different all of these personalities are. And the best way that you can connect with people is being available — a great way to be available is to be with them.

Frank knows that sometimes when a player comes upstairs to a coach’s office, he feels differently than when he’s downstairs in a meeting room. It feels like a more welcoming environment where (they) can be themselves; (they) don’t have to be sort of a manufactured self. You see that a lot in the NFL; people are putting on a front — they’re playing a part in a movie — they’re not necessarily being their authentic, full self. I think what (Frank) has done with our group is open himself up, and I think by doing that, it’s opened them up. Now our lines of communication are open in a way that wouldn’t be possible if he were upstairs all the time. They can stay later with him; they can come earlier. He has a central command center down there for them and with (assistant offensive line coach) Shaun Sarrett, and I think it’s Frank’s way of making the relationship part really big.

Do you think that helps, having multiple spaces like that where guys can just be around each other, learn about each other, understand each other — not just player to player but coach to player?

Yeah, and that’s why I tell our coaches to go work out when the players are working out. I was like, “You’ll be surprised what you can find out from observing them or being a part of a workout session where you can maybe talk about something just briefly that will end up helping your day out.” I think a lot of people look down on that or laugh at me, turn their nose up, whatever. There’s a lot of cynical people out there. What I encouraged our staff to do is to be around our guys if they’re into what we’re doing. … If we can always stay current with them, then we’re going to create a lot of solutions to these really tough problems that we’re going to have. I don’t believe in coaches hanging out together all day. I know that’s not the way. The way is to be around your players as much as they can, and our coaches have kind of given life to that.

I shared a bunch of stories about when I was with (Rams star cornerback Jalen) Ramsey. I made a 90-play cut-up last March of him, from Florida State all the way to the 2019 Rams: good plays, bad plays, in the middle, press, off, tackling, effort, leadership stuff, his role for the Rams. On two hours, on a Zoom call in the beginning of the pandemic, that’s where it started for us, because he knew that I was invested in his game. I shared with him, I said, “I don’t think that I would be here without Jalen Ramsey.” And it was a moment like that that led to a lot of other really big and small moments along the way that allowed him and us to have a great year — that let him know that you’re thinking about him, that it’s personal. I don’t see how you can do this job if you don’t make it personal. (Voice raises.) I just don’t, Jourdan. I don’t see how you can do it well.

I remember how collaborative your relationship with Jalen was, too.

I use that word — “express themselves” — because I mean it. It’s a partnership. That’s why I love the NFL. You have to make sure that that guy has a big voice in how you do things, because he can help you. He can see a lot of things that are happening out there that can really help you. You can say, “Hey, we can do this one of two ways.” And then he makes the way that he wants work. We’re always going to be wired that way. “We’ve got two really good solutions. What are you more comfortable with?”

I just think that’s the best way to do business. And then you’re always current during the week, and then when you get to the signal caller meetings that he and I had all the time, they were like quarterback meetings where he’s ranking the third downs. “Hey, these are the coverages I like the best. This is where I want to be in the red area.” So he’s fully aware of why we’re doing everything and there’s no surprises for him on game day. I think that collaboration is ultimately why we had the year that we had. He had a huge impact on me.

And I want to tie that thread over to the other side because of your quarterback. If we’re tying thread together, translating that type of collaboration over to Herbert, I imagine that’s the most important thing you two can do is to collaborate in that manner.

A big part of it is that I know our offense. I know how we call things, I know why we call them that way, from a formation standpoint to a protection standpoint to a route concept standpoint, so I can speak his language on a day-to-day basis. And then, I feel like a big contribution from me is to help him identify defenses and how people play and what their rules are. “These are the personnel groupings that they play. These are their fronts they play, the coverages they play, the pressure packages they have. Here’s a couple defenders who can tell you what’s happening. Here’s why it’s happening.” And offer him that second part of his education where, yeah, he’s learning it from Joe (Lombardi) and Shane (Day). But I’m the checks and balances that offers him that other perspective — and a fresh perspective. And I think that with Justin, it’s: “Do you prepare the path for the player or the player for the path?” And I want to prepare the player for the path, not the path for the player.

I don’t want to make it easy for Justin; I want to make it right for him. And so on the front end, I’ll say, “Hey, man, we’re going to challenge you. We’re going to push you.” Because ultimately, I know that for us to be as good as we can be, (he) has to be the one running the show for us. And (him) just knowing that, as his head coach, I have his back and we’re going to work through it during the week together and hopefully I can give him that full perspective where he can become a complete player.

When you guys talk, how do you talk to each other?

A lot of it is keeping it light, talking about our day to day. And I think that’s where it starts: from a personal perspective. From a ball perspective. Just asking a lot of questions and being a part of the conversation and the dialogue. And he knows that my door is open and my cellphone is on for all of those things that come up for him. I think everyone wants to make it this big thing, but that’s not how it is; they’re little things. Little things that add up to the big things, and ultimately, that’s where you know you trust one another — when it’s not like (you’re only reaching out over) big stuff. It’s small stuff that happens over time.

I think, over the course of OTAs, what was awesome was being able to be in all of those quarterback meetings. I felt like Justin got a lot better. I felt like he learned a lot more about not only our offense but our defense. I could say, “Hey, this is why, offensively, we really like this. This is why we do this, because it’s really good against this.” When you can speak that part of the language, it’s not like you’re some sort of “defensive coach.” You’re just his coach. Right? And I think that’s just a goal of mine was to establish, “I’m a coach. Not just a defensive coach.” I’m his coach, just like I’m Derwin James’ coach. And I’ve really enjoyed that.



Which phase of the on-field “building” process are you in right now?

We talked about in the springtime really trying to push it from an installation standpoint, to really introduce our football scheme, our technique and our situational foundation. What we wanted to do was teach our guys a lot of football and install a lot. We were not going full speed, so what we did was we two-spotted the field so that everybody on the team could be working. That was done intentionally so that everybody was developing. Not just part of the team; the whole team was developing. We didn’t have to worry about the full speed of 11-on-11, the full speed of that, the anxiety, not to mention the health and safety stuff. What we were able to do was really install a lot more offense and defense. … There’s a lot of information that they’re responsible for, so they have to come to the facility ready. They’re responsible for a lot. So in a traditional OTA (practice), they may get 10 to 15 plays. Well, they were getting 65 to 75 plays that they were having to operate against a great offense or defense. If you just do the math on that, you’re getting five times as many snaps every day.

On the front end, it was a lot harder for our players because we ended up installing as much defense as we had for the Green Bay playoff game (with the Rams). We ended up installing that much. But what it did was it introduced our players to what we do and why we do it. I think that our players, although it was challenging for them, they benefited greatly because now when it goes live in training camp, they know what to do because they’ve done it. There isn’t anything they have not been exposed to from a baseline of installation, because at the end of the day, you just want these guys to be able to perform their best and express themselves, and then for you as a coaching staff to figure out what everyone is best at. We were able to establish our way of playing, and our guys are going to feel very confident in operating our systems in all three phases because we put a lot of stuff in. It wasn’t smothering or overwhelming because the physical part wasn’t a part of the equation. I felt like I got really good feedback from the players because we engineered this as a coaching staff first and then went to our (player) leadership council (about it).

As you saw last year with the Rams, I feel like we spent a lot of time thinking about how to build things. Like, a lot of time. Like, way more time than you could ever imagine. And I feel like that’s why it usually works out OK. I think if you build things properly, you’re going to be more prepared for all of the things you’re going to (experience) in the league.