Rams aide Staley will coach Chargers
Brandon Staley won’t have to move that far for his first head coaching opportunity.
Staley agreed to become the Los Angeles Chargers’ coach after one season as the defensive coordinator for the crosstown Rams.
The Chargers made the decision to hire Staley after their second interview with him. The interview was held a day after the Rams were eliminated from the playoffs with a 32-18 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“It’s not just that Brandon possesses a tremendous football mind that makes him the ideal head coach to lead our team forward,” general manager Tom Telesco said. “It’s that he excels in the ability to effectively tailor, apply and communicate his concepts to players.
“It’s clear that Brandon will not be outworked. He’s the football equivalent of a gym rat, and that has earned him the universal respect of the players he has coached throughout his journey.”
The 38-year old Staley was in demand with interviews also scheduled with the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles. He also had an interview with the New York Jets before they hired Robert Saleh last Thursday.
Staley, who will be formally introduced Thursday, replaces Anthony Lynn, who was fired on Jan. 4 after going 7-9 this past season. Lynn had a 3331 mark in four seasons and led the Chargers to the divisional round of the playoffs in 2018.
Mahomes is in concussion protocol: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes remained in the league’s concussion protocol Monday and coach Andy Reid declined to speculate on when he’ll be cleared.
“Because of the protocol it’s a nobrainer,” Reid explained of the decision, which rests not in his hands but those of team doctors and outside experts. “You don’t even have to think about it. You just go forward. You have an answer if he’s there and if he’s not there. I can’t tell you an answer from a medical standpoint. I just don’t know.”
If Mahomes is unable to play, 35year-old journeyman Chad Henne would start against Buffalo in Sunday’s AFC title game.
Henne took over when Mahomes sustained the concussion with the Chiefs leading, 19-10, and he finished the drive by leading Kansas City to a field goal. But more memorable will be the two plays he made in the fourth quarter, when the Chiefs were trying to hold onto a 22-17 lead and run out the clock on the win.
On third-and-14 in his own territory, Henne scrambled to his left and found some open space, then sacrificed his body by diving for the first-down marker.
Henne came up just short, and when Reid elected to go for it rather than punt, the coach put the game in his hands by calling a short pass play to Tyreek Hill that gave Kansas City a first down.