by Paul Teetor
The Chargers fired Head Coach Brandon Staley Friday morning – finally.
The immediate cause was the 63-21 demolition Thursday night by the Raiders – who lost their previous game by the baseball-like score of 3-0.
But there was a lot more going on than just that one, hugely embarrassing loss to a team that couldn’t score a single point the week before they took on the Chargers.
Staley should have been fired long ago.
Dedicated All Ball readers will recall we have called for Staley’s firing three times – two years ago when he cost the Chargers a playoff spot with his arrogant play calling; again last season when he cost the Chargers a 27-point lead in the first round of the playoffs and lost the game; and again early this year when the defense he was supposed to be in charge of kept blowing leads.
Calling for someone to be fired is not something we take lightly. Indeed, UCLA Football Coach Chip Kelly is the only other coach we’ve bailed on – and he won a bowl game just last week.
So calling even once for a coach to be fired is rare for All Ball.
Twice is even more rare.
Urging that someone be fired three times is unprecedented. But we felt it was necessary in this case because it was increasingly clear that he was wasting star quarterback Justin Herbert’s rookie contract – before they had to start paying him the big bucks — and the early part of his prime.
On September 27 we ran a column headlined “Brandon Staley Must Go.” It began this way: “Somebody please stop Brandon Staley before he completely destroys the Chargers season — for the third year in a row.”
That statement was aimed directly at owner Dean Spanos, since we figured General Manager Tom Telesco didn’t have the stones to fire the coach he had personally hired three years ago after just one year as the Rams defensive coordinator.
From the get-go Staley looked too young, too scared and too eager to prove what a macho guy he is to lead an NFL team looking to challenge the Rams for LA supremacy.
But he had two things going for him. First, Herbert, entering his second season, had already proven that he was a top-5 quarterback in the NFL and he looked like a guy who could quickly become the best quarterback in the league. He was 6-foot-6, surprisingly mobile and had a cannon for an arm. Even better, he was humble, hardworking and ready to do whatever the coaching staff asked of him.
The other thing Staley had going for him: his reputation as a defensive genius. He had added to it by bragging that no one was able to unleash a productive running game against his Rams defense.
Of course, he didn’t mention that the Rams superstar nose tackle Aaron Donald was the main reason for that – not the allegedly brilliant defensive schemes he was able to draw up and implement.
When he moved across town to his new team, Staley insisted on calling the defensive signals for the Chargers, even though that should have been left to the defensive coordinator. That was just one example among many of his immaturity and arrogance.
Another example: when things started to go south this year and the local media began asking tough questions, Staley blew up at a press conference and berated reporters and basically told them to stop asking the hard questions because his answers were not going to change.
It’s guaranteed: when a coach is under fire and starts blaming the media, he’s soon gone.
After our third plea for Staley’s firing in September we took a vow of silence, figuring that we had done our part and now it was up to his employer.
Spanos has a rep for being, shall we say, frugal with his money. So the smart guys were saying Staley was safe through this season and probably next season, the last year on his deal. After that, Spanos might make a change. But no way would he put himself in the position of paying two coaches at the same time.
But the Thursday night game against the Raiders changed all that. Halfway through the first quarter it was 21-0 and increasingly clear that the players were done with Staley. In a sport as violent and brutal as football, if the players aren’t motivated and inspired, they’re going to lay down and quit if that’s what it takes to get the coach fired.
And once a coach loses the locker room – especially in the pros, not so much in college – he is done, and it’s just a matter of when, not if, he’s going to be fired.
So Spanos finally pulled the trigger on Staley – and for good measure on GM Telesco too.
Now the 5-9 Chargers will play out the string without Herbert – who has a broken finger on his throwing hand – and under the leadership of an interim coach.
Already two names are popping up as the Chargers next head coach: Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who almost surely will be fired after this season because the Pats have not won a playoff game since Tom Brady left Boston three years ago, and Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who was suspended three games this year for using a spy to figure out opposing team’s signals.
So both of them come with baggage, but they are both box office names and, more important, have a good history with young, talented quarterbacks like Herbert.
Happy trails, Brandon Staley.
You will not be missed.
Mustang boys, girls hooping it Up
Last season the Mira Costa boys basketball team went 28-4, won the Bay League for the second time in five years and advanced deep into the CIF playoffs before blowing a 17-point lead to powerhouse Mater Dei.
It was the best season in modern Mustang history.
Their record probably won’t be as good this year. They already have two losses in a 10-2 record and should absorb at least two more losses along the way of a long season.
That’s according to Coach Neal Perlmutter, who has lost four starting seniors, two of whom were four-year varsity players – shooter supreme Dylan Black and gritty point guard Will Householter – who were the cornerstones of his rebuilding program.
“That kind of record is not going to happen again this year,” Perlmutter said.
The record won’t be as good as last season for a simple reason: they’re taking a big step up in class and playing a much tougher schedule against big-time teams.
But it’s by design, and it’s all part of Perlmutter’s master plan to turn Mira Costa into an elite hoops program year in and year out, much like the Mustang volleyball program.
Five years ago, after turning around the West program, he was hired to do the same thing here, where the boys team had fallen on hard times and fan interest had waned.
Perlmutter shocked everybody – except himself and his players — by winning the Bay League in his second year. But more importantly, he set out at the same time to build a grass-roots program where players could be developed at the freshman and junior varsity levels until they were ready to contribute on the varsity.
That plan is coming to fruition this year.
“We have one of the best junior classes in all of Southern California,” he said. “Of the 10 guys in our rotation, nine are juniors and they almost all played on the lower levels of our program.”
The stars of the season so far include sky-walking center Preston Ezewiro, smooth forwards Eneasi Piuleini and Jacob De Armas, slick point guard Christian Kranz and all-around glue guy James Reach.
Perlmutter credits JV coach Ray Barnes and his staff with building the foundation that is now producing productive varsity players every year.
As has been the norm with Perlmutter’s teams since he showed up five years ago, the Mustangs are an ensemble rather than a solo effort by any one player.
“We have four guys averaging between 10 and 14 points per game,” he said. “We like it that way so we can share the ball and not have to depend on one or two guys.”
The other hallmark of Perlmutter’s teams has been in-your-grille, lockdown defense, and that is no different this year.
Meanwhile, the Mira Costa girls team has also started the season with a 10-2 record as they, like the boys, begin Bay League play, Friday night, December 22, by hosting Palos Verdes.
They also have had to adjust to losing a four-year starter, Maile Nakaji, who may be the best player in the program’s history. She is now starring for Chapman University in Orange County, where she was recently named the conference player of the week.
Coach Jeff Herdman said Nakaji has been replaced by a committee.
“We’ve had at least six girls scoring in double figures in almost every game,” he said.
If they have a star this year, it’s Juju O’Brien, who first made her mark as a defensive player in her sophomore year but has emerged as a two-way force in her senior season.
“She had 32 points and ten rebounds in one game, and she was named the Daily Breeze player
of the week,” he said.
As good as she is, O’Brien is also a standout softball player — she was the Bay League Player of the Year last year and has committed to Columbia University for softball.
While Herdman has a deep bench of veterans to shuttle in and out of the lineup, he is very excited about Freshman Kylee Yeh, who starts at the point guard position.
“She was voted to the all-tournament team at the Palisades Tournament,” he said. “She’s the best freshman we’ve had since Maile Nakaji. She’s an incredible defender – she averages 3 steals a game.”
For the girls as well as the boys, the season so far has been a warmup for the real thing: both teams have a legit shot at winning the Bay League, which starts Friday night. ER
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com
Follow: @paulteetor
