Brandon Staley To New Orleans Will Keep Rising Young Coach With Eagles

Christian Parker interviewed for the Saints defensive coordinator job but will return for a second season in Philadelphia.

Eagles secondary coach Christian Parker / John McMullen/Eagles SI

PHILADELPHIA - The New Orleans Saints have hired former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley as their new defensive coordinator.

The #Saints are hiring former #Chargers coach Brandon Staley as the defensive coordinator for coach Kellen Moore, per The Insiders.

Staley was an assistant this year with the #49ers, and before LAC, he burst onto the scene as a #Rams DC. Now, lands in NO. pic.twitter.com/ytNtbTMdzm

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 21, 2025

In Staley’s last season as the Chargers coach in 2023, Kellen Moore was the team’s offensive coordinator and Doug Nussmeier the quarterbacks coach.

Moore and Nussmeier then migrated to Philadelphia for the 2024 season with those same roles under Nick Sirianni en route to winning Super Bowl LIX.

Moore was then quickly hired by the Saints to be their new head coach and he has ultimately brought along Nussmeier to be the OC in NOLA. 

Staley was tabbed to be the DC but not before Moore interviewed Eagles’ defensive pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach Christian Parker for the job.

A rising star in the profession Parker, 33, was brought in by DC Vic Fangio last season and spearheaded quite the turnaround on coverage by leaning on rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, and returning veteran C.J. Gardner-Johnson at safety.

The Philadelphia defense finished No. 1 overall in defense last season and No. 1 in the passing game, allowing just 174.2 yards per game.

Parker, along with cornerbacks coach Roy Anderson and safeties coach Joe Kasper, was able to teach Fangio’s zone-heavy schemes brilliantly resulting in very few busted coverages.

While Staley was the favorite all along to get Moore’s DC job, the fact that Parker is now on the league’s radar at such a young age is a clear indication for Eagles fans to enjoy the young coach while they still can.

Fangio is regarded as the league's best defensive coordinator and isn't going anywhere, meaning the upward mobility for Parker in his career will be outside the Eagles' organization.

Moore has also hired former Eagles assistant T.J. Paganetti to help with the Saints running game.

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