The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Staley’s rise no surprise to his JCU players
Brandon Staley’s meteoric rise — there’s no other way to describe it — through the football coaching ranks has the Perry graduate perhaps on the cusp of reaching the ultimate level in his profession.
It is an amazing run for the coach who just five years ago was the defensive coordinator at Division III John Carroll, and has never served as a head coach.
That hasn’t stopped the Los Angeles Chargers and the New York Jets this week from asking for permission to interview Staley for their vacant head coach position. The Rams play the Seahawks this week in the NFL wild-card round.
A handful from the area who played under Staley at John Carroll were confident in saying don’t count him out from becoming an NFL head coach — perhaps as soon as this year. If that happens, the JCU-NFL tree would extend to its second NFL head coach after the late Don Shula.
There are many other assistant coaches, executives and team employees working in the NFL, but if Staley becomes a head coach this offseason, it will take the cake for 2021.
“Without a doubt, when he walks into a room he steals the show,” said former JCU All-America linebacker Mason McKenrick of Mentor about Staley. “His charisma, energy, passion — it’s hard to match that.”
McKenrick’s and other’s testimonials about Staley during his time at JCU aren’t far off from what those in the NFL are saying right now.
To sum it up — he’s the real deal, and one of the the hottest coaching candidates.
Momentum is a difficult thing to stop in football, on the field and off. Staley has that momentum since leaving JCU with then-head coach Tom Arth for FCS Chattanooga following their memorable 2016 season. It included a 12-2 record, a win over two No. 1-ranked teams — first, Mount Union and then Wisconsin-Whitewater in the NCAA playoffs — an outright OAC championship and trip to the national semifinals.
Key to that season was a nasty defense led by Staley that ranked among the nation’s best. When Staley left
for Chattanooga with Arth and others from the staff, Staley didn’t stay there long. A few months into that gig, an opportunity to join the Bears’ coaching staff as outside linebackers coach was too enticing. He stayed in Chicago for two seasons, and joined the Broncos staff in the same position in 2019.
In 2020, he was hired by Coach Sean McVay as defensive coordinator for the Rams, who were No. 1 in the NFL during the regular season in points (18.5) and yards allowed (281.9). Those types of results generate big-time interest, and even though Staley is just 38 and has never been a head coach at any level, the Chargers and Jets are interested.
McKenrick and fellow Mentor graduate Reese Armstrong were standouts
defensive players for Staley at JCU, as was Kirtland graduate Scott Eilerman, who — like Staley — was a quarterback in high school. Eilerman later switched to defense at JCU, and became a solid cornerback.
All said they weren’t surprised their former coach is getting interest as a head coach candidate. It’s the timing of it that had all raising their eyebrows.
“When he got to Chicago, that was surreal,” said Eilerman. “Then to become a defensive coordinator was also surreal. Now this — wow.”
McKenrick remembers an emotional conversation with Staley upon hearing news he was leaving JCU after the 2016 season. The bond between that defensive unit and Staley was extremely tight. Five years later, he better understands
the text of that talk.
“I remember him saying, ‘You have dreams, right? I have dreams, too?’ “said McKenrick. “For him, it was the NFL, and how do you get upset about a guy who has a dream about the NFL?”
Eilerman said many of the players had a moniker for Staley while he was at JCU, that being, “Bound for the NFL.”
“I didn’t think there was a guy who loves football more,” said Eilerman, who lives in Lakewood and works for a real estate startup company. “It’s a big reason why he’s been so successful. He loves football, and has the passion. With that, you’re bound to move up quickly.”
Staley’s passion for the game infected his players on defense, said McKenrick. Schemes were intricate and
complex. Film work was tedious to the point where McKenrick felt he was being hit over the head with X’s and O’s, but it was everything he wanted from the game and Staley.
“Being able to outsmart the offense, I loved it,” he said.
McKenrick, living i n Manhattan and working as a model, best described what the JCU defense brought each week in 2016 as an “NFL-caliber defense at the Division III level.”
Now the big questions are (1.) will the Rams grant permission to the Chargers and Jets to interview Staley, and (2.) will Staley agree to the interviews? Staley vaguely addressed the later when asked by Rams media on Jan. 5, saying he’s “been preparing my whole life for opportunities like that.” So the expectation is likely if
the teams grants permission, Staley will interview with the Chargers and Jets.
Armstrong said the rise as a head coach candidate isn’t a shocker. It’s the fact he wasn’t sure being a head coach was on Staley’s radar.
“As long as I’ve know him, I’ve always seen him as a defensive coordinator,” said Armstrong, an accountant living in Cleveland Heights. “He’s so involved, and I know he’s always wanted to continue teaching defense.”
Things can change in a hurry. If being a head coach is on Staley’s radar, Armstrong says watch out.
“I fully expect him to go into an NFL interview and have these teams be blown away by him,” he said.
Stay tuned, as the NFL and all of the John Carroll community watches and waits.