Former Chargers nose tackle Breiden Fehoko defends his former head coach, Brandon Staley, and his defensive system. Staley is currently the defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints.
Breiden Fehoko comes to bat for Brandon Staley
Former Chargers nose tackle Breiden Fehoko says that his former head coach doesn't have an ego and is a good coach. "His defense works; you just need 11 guys who know the jobs of the rest of the defense." Fehoko said on Twitter. "We just had spurts where guys wanted to achieve individual success vs. the success of the team. That's just what it was, no sugarcoating."
In response to the question, "If Staley was so good, why were his defenses always ranking so low?", Fehoko would low-key call some players out. "I'm not gonna rat guys out, but I got 4 off the top of my head who legit would go rogue out there and do what the heck they wanted to do, and it would cost the defense.
He did say it could get complicated sometimes because it comes from a Vic Fangio coaching tree but also reiterated why the system works. "Philly just won a bowl playing the same defense." Fehoko said on Twitter. "Once I fully grasped the defense, I became the best version of myself for LA."
Los Angeles Chargers defensive struggles are on the players
Brandon Staley was the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers for three seasons, from 2021-2023. The Chargers hoped that Staley would bring the same success to their team as he did for the Rams, who had one of the league's best defenses (ranked top in every category except rushing statistics, where they were the #3 defense) while he served as their defensive coordinator in 2020.
Unfortunately for the Chargers, he would struggle to get the defense going, which had its best season in 2022, finishing as the 20th-best defense in the NFL for net yards allowed per game (allowing 360.1 in 2021, 346.1 in 2022, and 362.9 in 2023).
Two things should be noted here. Being a head coach is much different than being a coordinator. Dennis Allen showed himself to be a strong coordinator but poor head coach. Saints fans don't need to be overly concerned.
Also, as Fehoko mentioned earlier, it's a team scheme. He had four players who played out of scheme. That's close to half of the defense. That's going to make a difference long term if it repeatedly happens. When grading the defense, Staley will get the blame, but he doesn't deserve the majority of it based on Fehoko's explanation.
Fortunately with the woes of his head coaching stint behind him, Staley says that he can help Kellen Moore, who was his offensive coordinator in 2023, in his first year on the job. "I think anytime you can join up with people who have experienced something, it's going to give you a little bit of an advantage, especially if you know that person, so I'll be able to help him where he needs it."
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