Take a look at top quotes from Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley's year-end press conference on Wednesday:
Head Coach Brandon Staley
On traits that he is 'looking for' in offensive coordinator candidates:
"You're looking for leadership, number one. You're looking for someone that can really connect a group and get them to play a certain type of way. I think that's where it starts. That comes from young guys, it comes from medium guys, older guys. It doesn't matter. But it really starts with leadership, and, I think, bringing out the style of play that we want to have as a football team because it's about a football team and all three phases playing a certain style. That's what I'm really after, in terms of leading the group and connecting it. Then, in terms of what that looks like, the offenses that I think are the most challenging to defend, and the people who have been here with me, are the ones that put a lot of pressure on you every snap, in terms of marrying the run game to the pass game, putting a lot of pressure on you with personnel groupings, pace, motion, and being able to get the explosions consistently. That's what I believe in. I want to have an offense that mirrors our defense because I think that those are the types of organizations, those are the type of football teams, who are consistent, game-in and game-out, season-in and season-out. We're going to start that process here shortly."
On if QB Justin Herbert will have 'input' on determining who will be the next offensive coordinator:
"Everything that we do in the program, we try to communicate with our players. Just like when I first got here, shaping your offense, it's going to go through him. When I talk about him being the system, I mean it. He has, now, three years of NFL experience to bank on. There are a lot of plays. As the head coach here for two years, we're going to try and keep a lot of that consistent for him where we can, and that's what I mean. As a head coach with an offensive background — that's the position that I played — what we're going to do, throughout the course of his career, is do that for him so that we can maximize him as a player. That's what these moves are about, maximizing him as a player and continuing to challenge and grow his game with his teammates, and, ultimately, forming a team that can consistently compete for world championships."
On his message to the fan base:
"We definitely improved as a franchise this season. We took a step, as a franchise. We earned ourselves a spot on the tournament. I'm as frustrated as anybody that's a Chargers fan over what happened, because there's no one that is investing as much as we are in what happened. The first half of that football game, I think you saw the very best of our team. Then, in the second half, we saw the places that we need to improve. Since I've been the head coach — I've been the head coach for 25 games, 25 — and that is the first time that a lead like that has happened. We're the team, over two years, that has come back. We're the ones that have made the comebacks. We're the ones this season that had to fight to come back, to scrap. When I say that it's different, it is different because if it were the same, then we wouldn't have made the postseason. We wouldn't have, at 6-6, won four-consecutive games to earn the top Wild Card spot. There is progress being made within our football team, and you can see it because the team that we have right now is a much different team than we had a year ago. What I would tell the fans is that I'm just as disappointed as they are, but I'm really excited to get this process started because, just like last year, when we made a lot of big improvements in our football team, that gave us this chance to compete for a championship, I know that if we keep making that type of progress, we will consistently be there at the end."
On what could have been done differently in the second half against Jacksonville:
"There are so many things in the second half of that game, in all three phases. It was one of those things — I think, you guys who were watching it, it was unique in the fact that there weren't these catastrophic big plays that kind of led to you giving away a lead. We didn't turn the football over. We weren't giving up these killer, huge, big plays. We gave up one long pass and that was it. There wasn't any big special teams errors. I know we missed a kick, but we just didn't execute at a high enough level in the second half. When it got tight and their crowd got into it, it became a dog fight. I think, in all three phases, we just didn't quite execute at a high enough level. I thought there were some penalties in the game that really swung the momentum of the game in the second half. We just didn't make enough winning plays, and that starts with me, in all three phases. I needed to coach better in all three phases in order to help us finish that game. I didn't do a good enough job of that. I take full responsibility. Like I said, that's where you have to go after a game like that. You have to take full ownership for what happened. I'm the one who is responsible for it. Like I said, I'm proud that we were able to get a chance to compete. I thought that first half showed you what our team has inside of it and the second half showed where we need to improve."
On the last few days:
"You have to absorb a lot after a loss like that. The finality of the NFL unless you're the last one standing is just really tough. That's part of sports. It doesn't matter if it's the NFL or any other level. Your last game, if you don't win it all, is always really tough. Then, immediately you have to say goodbye to a lot of people. You have to make sure that you unpack the season and treat people with the respect that they've earned. You have to start with your players. Then, you go with your coaching staff and you're talking throughout the organization. We talk to you guys. It's bittersweet because you grow a lot from these meetings. You learn a lot, which is energizing, but at the same time, it's taking a lot from you because you know what you just put into this thing. All of that is kind of happening at the same time and you have to make tough decisions moving forward. That's the job. You love all of it. Where I am is moving forward for this team and making sure that every day that we're here, we're getting closer to our ultimate goal of being world champions."
On the rushing attack:
"I think the issues that you just mentioned are real, in terms of getting the continuity of who is out there. I think, any time you don't have the chemistry within your personnel, it's going to be challenging to formulate that identity that I think is really important in any part of your program, but especially at the line of scrimmage. If you want to be a line of scrimmage team, you want to have an identity in how you run the football or protect the quarterback, or throw the football, stop the run, etc. I think that was challenging from a personnel perspective, but I think that, for me, it's getting back to the technique, fundamentals and the mindset of how we want to do things. I think that we can definitely improve in that area for next season."
Check out the best shots of the Chargers Wild Card Round game against the Jaguars in Jacksonville
On the defense:
"I think down the stretch those last six games that we were the No. 1 defense in the NFL and it allowed us to get into the tournament. You measure yourself on how you're playing against the best people in the NFL. Certainly, when we played Miami and how we played against San Francisco and Kansas City, I think you saw like at the beginning of the year when we had our full team in those first two games, what that looked like. That next stretch where you kind of get cleaned out, I thought we made a lot of adjustments that allowed us to hang in there and play well enough to give us a chance to win. I thought, when things settled down at the end of the season, we were playing at a high level and the way that we expect to play, the standard of performance that we expect. I thought there were a lot of good takeaways from the way we finished the season. We got contributions from a lot of guys. I thought we developed guys well. I think with as many new guys as we brought in the offseason, defensively, I'm excited for them to get a full offseason together because I would expect that level to improve in a big way. I think, defensively, that we're headed in the right direction, for sure."
On his message in the final team meeting:
"I started at the end, and then I went back to the beginning. I thought that the first half of that game showed our football team, of what we are capable of. Then, the second half, 'Hey, that's the improvement guys. We have to take full ownership.' You don't want to be in denial of what happened. You don't want to look away and say, 'Hey, we're moving on and we're not looking back.' We have to take full responsibility for that. In all three phases of coaching and playing, it wasn't good enough, starting with me. That's what I did in front of the team. I said, 'I didn't do well enough in the game for our team.' Then, you go backwards, from the beginning. I was really proud of our team, that we put ourselves in that position to give us a chance to compete. I thought we went through a lot. I thought it took everybody in our locker room. When we look around, we had a bunch of guys that joined up with us that weren't even on our team in training camp, weren't even on our team at the bye [week], that ended up playing meaningful snaps in the playoffs. We were able to on-board these guys and get them in a position to play well enough for us to win that game. I think those signs tell you that we are headed in the right direction. The people that have been here for two years know that the caliber of this locker room, the caliber of this [team meeting room] moving forward, is in a much better place than it was a year ago. That is the most important thing that you have to take away, that this group is good enough. The way that we feel right now, that is a good thing. It's part of competition. When you feel like this, you are a lot closer than you think, when you feel like this. You go get beat and no one is feeling that way, that means you are probably a lot further away than you want to be. Our guys didn't feel that way. They feel like we can beat anybody in the NFL. To lose like that, obviously, was the toughest side of it."
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