Brandon Staley has had success as a defensive coordinator.
Some guys are built for being coordinators and some can handle everything that comes with being a head coach. It appears Brandon Staley might just be a coordinator in this NFL. Nothing wrong with that except you can make a decent argument that Mike McDaniel is on the path of a similar fate. That remains to be seen.
The last defensive coordinator stint Brandon Staley had was when he was with the Rams. He helped take a Rams defense that admittedly was pretty good ranking 13th in total defense in 2020 to being ranked #1 at the end of 2021.
Unpopular opinion: Brandon Staley MIGHT not be that bad of a DC.
— Brandon 🐬 (@Finsfan141) January 24, 2024
Yes he was a horrible HC but he was a great DC with the Rams
- The Rams defense ranked first in total defense (281.9 yards allowed per game) and first in points allowed per game, limiting opponents to an average… pic.twitter.com/TuXv5TmY1K
Yes, there were some excellent players on that team. But Brandon Staley got them playing at a very high level.
After this season, Staley was somewhat of a stealthy pick to become a head coach. The analytic folks loved what he was doing. Remember, this was before Matthew Stafford got there so many of the wins that the Rams team got were because of what the defense was doing.
Again, not everyone is cut out for the head coaching gig. Some guys are built for managing one aspect of the game instead of overseeing multiple facets of a team. I think Brandon Staley fits the mold of that.