Last week, head coach Brandon Staley joined The Cris Collinsworth Podcast Featuring Richard Sherman for an hour long sit-down interview, which you can watch here. Here are some of our favorite moments from the interview!
Hayley Elwood's Favorite Moment:
Collinsworth talked about the influence Vic Fangio has had on Staley's coaching career and how the new Chargers head coach has adopted some of Fangio's traits. One of those, as Collinsworth noted, is the "subtle disguises" in coverage.
"We want to make the quarterback operate post-snap," Staley told Collinsworth. "I think that's the one advantage that you can have defensively, when that ball hits the quarterback's hands, whether he's under the center or in (shotgun,) it's just making him operate post-snap because if they know pre-snap what's happening, you're odds aren't very good at being successful in this league."
The influence isn't surprising since it was the current Broncos head coach who gave Staley his first opportunity in the NFL. That was as an outside linebackers coach for the Chicago Bears when Fangio was the defensive coordinator there.
When we spoke with Fangio shortly after the Chargers hired Staley, he discussed why Staley has remained a student of the game with a penchant for innovation.
"(Being innovative is) something he's always done in his career even when he was coaching at the lower levels of college football," Fangio said. "They have access to a lot of video from the NFL and you could tell he was studying that. You could tell he was studying our defenses when I was in San Francisco years ago ... He tries to stay ahead of the curve and be on top of anything and everything that's new out there."
Chris Hayre's Favorite Moment:
Staley's ability to forge strong bonds with his players has played an integral role in his rise to becoming an NFL head coach. When asked by Sherman about the collaborative nature between a coach and player in-game, Staley noted the importance of tapping into his stars' expertise.
"They see some things that you will never see as a coach," Staley said. "And when you build relationships with them, you will trust what they see, and then that's going to allow you as a coach to click in to your skill set to sort of help that unit or that team be as good as they can be.
"And I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that the true artistry happens with the players. I think the best coaches figure that out and then what the best coaches do is try and create those partnerships, those relationships that can really help you in good times and in tough times."
Last month, NFL Network's Brian Baldinger shared his thoughts on Brandon Staley's defense, led by defensive tackle Aaron Donald and cornerback Jalen Ramey -- a pair of All-Pros whom Staley collaborated with to build the NFL's top-ranked defense in 2020.
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