The calls for Brandon Staley to be fired grew even louder after the Los Angeles Chargers lost to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, but it would be tough to find anyone who has soured on the coach more than Rex Ryan.
Ryan discussed the current state of the Chargers during ESPN’s “Get Up” Monday morning. He said his wife could do a better job than Staley is doing in L.A. and completely unloaded on the third-year head coach.
“I think he should go back to Division 3 football where he belongs,” Ryan said. “Look at his resume, man. I’m sorry. The dude comes in there after one year of coordinating a team that my wife could coach, with Aaron Donald and all those guys. Stop it. Trust me, she’d do a hell of a lot better job than this guy’s doing with this defense. They’re the second-highest payroll in the National Football League on defense and they’re the second-worst. This team is atrocious. You’ve got a Hall of Fame quarterback too. Ridiculous.”
Staley was hired by the Chargers in 2021 after he spent a year as the defensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Chargers. Ryan clearly does not feel the 40-year-old had enough experience to be a head coach. Staley has faced criticism over his refusal to give up defensive playcalling responsibilities, and he lost his cool with a reporter who asked about that after Sunday’s 23-20 loss (video here).
Ryan bashed Staley over that exchange, too.
“I’m sorry, your job is to sit up there and answer questions,” Ryan said. “That man has a right or woman has a right to ask you any question she wants. You get paid to answer those things, alright? Handle it. The reason they’re questioning you is because you’re atrocious on defense. Give it to anybody else. Let somebody else coach because it ain’t getting done.”
Rex Ryan absolutely goes off on Brandon Staley on @GetUpESPN
“He needs to go back to division 3 where he belongs” #BoltUp #FireBrandonStaley pic.twitter.com/ZGKVXU8K60 https://t.co/RMYLi4OzxZ
— Mike McDaniel (@MikMcDaniel) November 20, 2023
The Chargers have a talented roster and one of the better quarterbacks in the league in Justin Herbert. Despite that, they are now 4-6 and quickly fading from playoff contention.
There was talk of Staley potentially losing his job after the Chargers’ historic postseason collapse against the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. The team decided to stay the course, which now looks like it was the wrong move.
