Chargers News: Pundit Reminisces On Brandon Staley's Year One Impact

LA's head coach has made an impact from the jump.

Amidst the start of his third season with your Los Angeles Chargers, one pundit opted to look back at the beginning of head coach Brandon Staley's LA run in 2021. Last year, as you'll recall, he steered the Bolts back to their first postseason since 2018.

In discussing Staley's impact with colleague Jake Hefner, Dan Wolkenstein of the Chargers Unleashed Podcast spoke about how imperative Staley has been seemingly from the moment he touched down in LA.

"Since he came to the Chargers, like the second he was hired, [he] was this brain child," Wolkenstein opined. "Someone who is kind of transcending the defensive scheme, if you will, for the NFL. And, bluntly, that has not been seen translated onto the field. But with that, you saw, Year One Brandon Staley just letting it rip. '4th And Staley' was on a t-shirt being sold everywhere, you saw everyone around the NFL -- pundits, critics, all kind of talking about this new age, and [his] kind of changing the math with his fourth down and aggressive play calling and changing the culture of this team, and there was a ton of positive [impact] that came from Year One, and you and I noted it at length -- how different it was from years prior under the previous regime. Then, of course, the Week 18 debacle happened against the Raiders, they missed the playoffs, season ends on kind of a low note." 

"Last year, you saw tons of catastrophes happen -- all the injuries, all of the extenuating circumstances, the offensive play calling not doing great... and you saw Brandon Staley kind of have to reel it in seemingly in terms of that aggressiveness and that fourth down decision making and all that," Wolkenstein continued. "They just didn't reach their full potential last year."

Here's hoping more health luck and some tactical, if not splashy, offseason moves will help the Chargers get further into the playoffs.