A trio of beat writers joined the latest episode of "Chargers Weekly" to react to the introductory press conferences of head coach Brandon Staley and his three coordinators.
Listen to the full episode with the Los Angeles Times' Jeff Miller, Sports Illustrated's Fernando Ramirez and Joe Reedy of the Associated Press wherever you listen podcasts. A few highlights are below.
Miller on Staley's Presser
"I have no idea how good Brandon Staley's going to be as a head coach. None of us do. He's never done it, we'll see. But I don't think the Chargers are going to go into many games not being smarter than the other team. He's a smart guy. I don't think there's any question about that. And we've heard these stories, right? Or I've heard some stories and I think everybody probably has by now. He's sort of got that mind, sort of like [Rams head coach] Sean McVay where he's very good at…maybe not memorizing things, but he reads something, he retains it. So, he's a really bright guy and like we mentioned, I think he's putting together a decent staff here.
"Again, it's so hard to tell on this stuff. Nobody knows until they start to interact with the players and the players get on the field. We're not going to know how any of this is going to work out, but the Chargers definitely got a really bright guy at the top and we'll just see how it unfolds. There's a long ways before this team plays a game, but at least to start off they're starting from a really good foundation, there's no doubt about that."
Ramirez on Staley Building Relationships
"The quote that struck me about him was from Jalen Ramsey, the Rams cornerback. We all know Jalen Ramsey isn't afraid to tell you how it is. And for him to say he [Staley] is the best defensive coordinator I've ever had is very interesting. The way he's built relationships, like you said, is great and it feels like he's doing that already. He called Justin Herbert, after his wife obviously, but called him right after to let him know, 'Hey, I'm going to be your new head coach. I can't wait to talk to you.' He's like, 'I wanted him to hear my voice.' So, that's honestly huge for him. He's texted a couple of guys. I'm sure, like you said, by now he's already talked to everybody.
"But it's about building a family, which is interesting that he said that because obviously the Spanos family, that's been their mantra. So, that's very good that he's reaching out to some of these legends to kind of have them around the game, have them, I mean, possibly come to training camp; possibly be around the team during the season, which is great. And it just seems like everyone you talk to has nothing but positive things to say about Brandon."
Reedy on Staley's QB Experience
"I think the fact that he played quarterback, very offensive minded coming up, and then switched to defense; he has the ability to see all three facets. I talked to Tom Arth, who was his boss at John Carroll … and he just marvels at how he's able to see all three phases of the game. And I think as a head coach, we get locked so much on he's an offensive or defensive guy, that we don't really look at how they've come up and everything. I mean, frankly you've had some defensive guys who started out playing defense and then switched to the offensive side of the ball.
"So, I think he sees everything interrelated to things and all of six degrees of separation that it'll be interesting to see, especially how he manages games and everything."
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