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Takeaways From Brandon Staley's End-of-Season Press Conference

Brandon Staley recaps the Chargers' 2022 NFL season.

Nicholas Cothrel
3 hours ago

COSTA MESA – The dust has settled on the Chargers' 2022 season in which
they posted a record of 10-7 to earn a spot in the playoffs for the
first time since 2018. However, the team's postseason run was
short-lived, ultimately ending their campaign following a 27-point blown
lead in the Wild Card Round to the Jaguars.

On Wednesday, at the Chargers' team headquarters, coach Brandon Staley
addressed the media for his end-of-season press conference, touching on
a wide variety of topics that include the completion of the 2022 season
and the outlook for what's ahead entering the offseason.

Here are the main takeaways from Staley's final media availability of
the season:

What the Chargers are looking for in the team's next offensive coordinator

The Chargers fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi on Tuesday after
spending two seasons with the team. The offense, even with notable
injuries to the offensive line and skill group that limited the team for
much of the season, was an underwhelming unit in its totality. Despite
getting back key players down the final stretch, including Keenan Allen
and Mike Williams, the offense still wasn't fully capable to maximize
its full potential.

"The vision for the way that I have of us playing on that side of the
football, I think that there is a different gear that we can get to as a
football team," Staley said of the offense. "It was definitely not an
easy decision. ... I think that we can make improvements on that side of
the football, and that’s where we are going to have our focus moving
forward.”

Ultimately, the Chargers have turned the page, beginning the process of
observing the market to bring in a new play-caller for the offense.
Staley said the biggest thing they're looking for in the next offensive
coordinator will be based around leadership.

"I think you're looking for leadership, number one," Staley said of the
offensive coordinator position. "You're looking for someone that can
really connect that group and get them to play a certain type of way."

"The offenses that are the most challenging to defend are the ones that
put a lot of pressure on you every snap in terms of marrying the run
game to the pass game. Putting a lot of pressure on your personnel
groupings with pace, motion and being able to get the explosions."

Staley, multiple times speaking at the podium, emphasized the importance
of being able to rip off explosive plays on a more consistent basis,
something the Chargers struggled to do for stretches at a time this season.

The Chargers' vacancy at offensive coordinator is likely to be the most
coveted play-calling job available during this year's hiring cycle based
around the idea of getting to team up with quarterback Justin Herbert.

"I think we have one of the top jobs in the league," Staley said of the
team's offensive coordinator position. "We're going to be thorough with
our process. There's not a rush to do anything. You want to make sure
that you hire the best coach."

Staley, when asked if he's leaning towards targeting possible candidates
that come from the Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, indicated
that's a likely proposition.

“Of the experiences that I have, that’s a fair assessment of the style
of play, because that’s the offense that I believe in," Staley said of
candidates from the McVay and Shanahan school of coaching. "When I came
here, that’s kind of how we got this off the ground.

In terms of the passing game, that’s what we’ve been able to do at a
high level for the last two years, throw the football. But, to be more
explosive, you have to be able to run the football more consistently to
put more pressure on people. What we want to do is cast a net to where
we find the best person to lead our offense and to, ultimately, be a
part of our team, and connect all phases to one another."

Chargers still working through other possible coaching changes

Lombardi held the biggest position that has endured change to the
coaching staff thus far, but quarterbacks coach Shane Day was also let
go on Tuesday. Staley was hesitant to say what other staff changes could
come about, but he certainly left the door open that more moves could be
on the way."

“I think that the nature of coaching is that things are always fluid,"
Staley said. "Even after the Super Bowl, there are a lot of things that
go on. That’s just kind of the nature of coaching.

"There are going to be a lot of people who are after our coaches, just
like last year, with so many head coach openings. There’s going to be a
lot of transition, that’s the nature of it. I would expect more changes,
but the nature of those changes, I’m not positive.”

The Chargers held end-of-year meetings this week with coaches, just as
they do players. Up to this point, the team has announced just two
coaching changes, both to the offense. But for a defense that has been
up-and-down for much of the season, staff members on that side of the
ball could be the next domino to fall.

"The nature of coaching, there’s a lot of transition right now," Staley
said. "There are a lot of jobs that are taking shape. Our staff is
probably not going to be the same as it was at the beginning of the season."

Staley stands by decision to play Mike Williams and other starters in
Week 18 game

Staley opted to play his starters the final week of the regular season
in which wide receiver Mike Williams suffered a fracture to his back
that caused him to miss the team's only playoff game.

The Week 18 contest against the Broncos had no implications that
pertained to the Chargers' playoff seeding. Despite that, Staley choose
to run out the key members of his team in an attempt to maintain
momentum entering the postseason.

When asked Wednesday to reflect on that decision, Staley stood firm with
the idea of playing his starters.

"I know that there’s no one that felt worse about Mike Williams not
being able to compete in the game than me," Staley said. "Going into
that game, I think there were a couple of things from a thought process,
that I want everyone to know. You really have to establish the standard
for your team in how you’re going to compete. I think the way that I
believe is that it’s very hard to decide who’s more valuable than the
others."

Since the incident, Staley has used the size of the roster on game day
as a reason behind playing his starters. He reiterated that at his final
press conference, stating that they don't have 90 players available as
they do during the preseason.

"It wouldn’t have mattered if it were Mike or anybody else," Staley
said. "I don’t want to lose anybody on my team. I think it’s really hard
for people to understand because if it would have been anyone else, I
would have felt the same way. ... I think that’s the hard part of being
an NFL coach, is that you have to make decisions like that. It was tough
to lose Mike in that game. I think, doing it over again, I’m proud of
our process.”

Addressing the collapse vs. Jacksonville

The collapse last Saturday night at TIAA Bank Field to the Jaguars, sent
the Chargers' packing despite at one point leading 27-0, and finishing
the game +5 in the turnover margin.

It was the third-largest comeback in playoff history by the Jaguars. It
was also the first time in Chargers' franchise history they've lost a
game with a +5 turnover margin, previously being 17-0 all-time.

Certainly, you don't blow a 27-point lead by just one thing. A lot has
to go wrong, and it did. Staley said in addressing the team following
the loss, he took full ownership for letting the game unravel the way it
did.

"You don’t want to be in denial of what happened," Staley said of the
Chargers' playoff loss. "You don’t want to look away and say, ‘Hey,
we’re moving on and we’re not looking back.’ We have to take full
responsibility for that. In all three phases of coaching and playing, it
wasn’t good enough, starting with me. That’s what I did in front of the
team. I said, ‘I didn’t do well enough in the game for our team.’"

While the season ended on a sour note, Staley still voiced his
confidence of what the Chargers can achieve next season with many of the
key pieces still under contract. Staley went as far to say he believed
this year's team was capable of winning a championship and that the
culture will only get stronger when they pick back up in 2023.

"The people that have been here for two years know the caliber of this
locker room," Staley said. "The caliber of this team moving forward, is
in a much better place than it was a year ago. That is the most
important thing that you have to take away, that this group is good enough."