General manager Tom Telesco joined the latest episode of "Chargers Weekly" to discuss the hiring of Brandon Staley as head coach, preparing for a first-of-its-kind offseason and the retirement of Philip Rivers.
For more insight on Staley, listen to past interviews with Sports Illustrated's Eric Williams, The Athletic's Robert Mays, "Good Morning Football" co-host Peter Schrager and former linebacker Sam Acho. Highlights with Telesco are below.
Telesco on How Staley is Already Connecting with Players (6:22 mark)
"He's walking the walk on that and he believes big on family and the synergy of the family, the players and the staff. I said many times before we spend so much time with each other in this business that you need that synergy, you need that accountability for each other. That 'I've got your back, you've got mine' and that's kind of that family atmosphere – and he preaches that and he walks it.
"And usually, when a head coach comes in [anywhere], the first thing you're doing is you're working so fast to put your staff together. But he has taken out time to call as many players as he can and he probably hasn't got everybody yet, but he's getting pretty close. I mean, our roster's over 50 players at this point – trying to reach out to each and every one of them. And then, like you said, even past players trying to reach out to them, too, and [let them know] they're still part of this.
"But part of connecting with the players is you have to have an individual message for every player on your football team, then collectively that team will come together. He's starting that right off the bat. I think that's great to see. He just loves being around the players."
On the Offseason (13:30 mark)
"The offseason's gonna be a lot different. It's gonna be different for us, too, because we have a new coaching staff, so that takes on an even bigger amount of work. We don't know what the cap number's gonna be yet. So, yeah, this is a big offseason. Our scouts – I mean, we've been preparing for the fact that this offseason is gonna be different, especially from a college scouting standpoint. We need to get all the information we usually get, just got to do it a different way. And they've already been working on that. There aren't as many all-star games this year as there have been. Obviously, the combine is not gonna be anywhere near what it used to be. It's really just gonna be medical.
"… If you can't adapt and be flexible – and we learned that through COVID – if you can't adapt and be flexible, you have no chance in this league. So, it's gonna go on through this offseason. If we can't adapt to this, everyone will pass us by. So, that's not gonna happen. We won't let that happen."
