Brandon Staley entered the season on the hot seat after multiple questionable decisions last year. The Los Angeles Chargers revamped their defense and were one of the strongest candidates in the NFL, so there would be no room for error.
The season went by, and they endured multiple injuries on both sides of the field. So, as disappointing as their regular-season record was, Staley deserved plenty of credit for still getting the team to the playoffs despite all the absences.
However, now that they’ve starred in the third-largest meltdown in NFL playoffs history, fans and analysts are once again asking for Staley to be fired. Even so, Justin Herbert and the players still have faith in him.
NFL News: Justin Herbert, Chargers Players Want Brandon Staley To Stay
“We believe in coach Staley and the front office 100%. Everyone would be lucky to have a coach like Staley,” Herbert told the Los Angeles Times. “He’s been an incredible leader. He’s got the respect of everyone on our team.”
“He’s genuine,” Herbert added. “He’s himself and we believe in him, and he’s been the same person the past two years. It didn’t go our way this year, but we took a big step forward and we believe in this coaching staff, this team, we’ve got the right pieces, we’ve just got to put them together. We’ve got to execute better.”
That seems to be the sentiment around the locker room. Nonetheless, there’s no excuse for blowing a 27-0 lead, even if the Jacksonville Jaguars made great adjustments and also deserve plenty of credit.
Truth be told, Staley has looked way over his head more often than not. His decision-making has been questionable, to say the least, and he’s got too much talent on that roster to blow a must-win game like this one.
