The Saints are hiring recent 49ers assistant Brandon Staley to be Kellen Moore’s defensive coordinator.
The New Orleans Saints have opted to hire former San Francisco 49ers defensive assistant Brandon Staley as defensive coordinator, per a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler. Staley, who was the Los Angeles Chargers head coach from 2021-2023, will be the top defensive coach under new head coach Kellen Moore. Michael Silver of The Athletic had previously reported that he expected Moore to target Staley as his defensive coordinator if he received a head coaching opportunity.
Staley had one of the quickest meteoric rises up the coaching ranks early in his career. After never serving in a more prominent role than defensive coordinator at James Madison, Staley became a linebackers coach with the Chicago Bears in 2017. After two seasons in Chicago, Staley took the same position with the Denver Broncos. One year later, he was the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.
After one season leading the Rams defense, Staley was hired as the Chargers head coach, beginning one of the more tumultuous head coaching tenures in recent memory. Staley adopted several prominent newer strategies pushed by math analysts. After a 9-8 and 10-7 playoff campaign, Staley found himself struggling to maintain the trust of his team and was fired after a 5-9 start to the 2023 season. Despite being branded as a defensive savant, Staley’s defenses never really found their footing in Los Angeles.
Coming off that campaign, Staley landed in San Francisco where Kyle Shanahan was looking for a more experienced defensive mind to mentor and advise first-year coordinator Nick Sorensen. Of course, Sorenesen’s defensive unit struggled throughout the season and Staley was seemingly unable to help him right the ship. Now, Staley will look to rebuild his reputation in New Orleans.