Brandon Staley still expected to become Saints defensive coordinator

By Ross Jackson

Despite the delay, San Francisco 49ers assistant head coach and former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley is still expected to be named the New Orleans Saints’ defensive coordinator.

When Staley was the Chargers’ head coach, he hired Kellen Moore as his offensive coordinator. Now that Moore is in the lead chair in New Orleans, he has a chance to return the favor.

Per Jordan Schultz of NFL On Fox, this is still very much the expectation.

Staley led the NFL’s top defense in 2020 with the Los Angeles Rams as the defensive coordinator. Granted, he did so with a Defensive Player of the Year season by defensive tackle Aaron Donald, an All-Pro year from cornerback Jalen Ramsey, and a 10.5 sack season from edge rusher Leonard Floyd. However, having good players still requires good coaching and a good scheme. Evidence of that has certainly been exhibited in New Orleans in recent years.

With Staley, the Saints would get a breath of fresh air on defense, as he has used a lot of odd-front approaches throughout his years of running and calling defenses. That would be a most welcome change in the Big Easy as it highlights versatility, speed, and range on that side of the ball to better counteract some of today’s outside run schemes and mobile quarterbacks.

While such a shift may not happen all at once in New Orleans, it would make sense if more three-man fronts started being utilized more often as the season continued. 

Staley, a former head coach, would be a valuable addition and mentor for Moore in his first head coaching role, particularly given their existing relationship and prior experience working together.

The Saints do have two more possible options for the role in former LSU defensive coordinator and current Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator Daronte Jones, as well as Christian Parker, who holds the same roles with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Parker is an intriguing alternative because of his experience with Moore and his being a part of the Vic Fangio defensive coordinator tree, the same experience that helps to make Staley such a desirable candidate. If things don’t work out with Staley, it would be a surprise. But being able to still land someone like Parker would be far from a disappointment.