Entering Week 15 of the 2023 NFL season, there may not have been a head coach more clearly on the hot seat than Brandon Staley.
And following the Los Angeles Chargers’ 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football, that seat’s temperature has seemingly moved from “hot” to “scorching,” with even the third-year head coach admitting he’s not sure whether he’ll have a job come Friday.
“I don’t know that,” Staley responded when asked by a reporter after the game whether he thought he’d remain the Chargers’ head coach following the blowout loss.
Asked if he thinks he should remain employed, the 41-year-old responded, “Yes.”
Reporter: "Do you expect to be the coach here tomorrow?"
Brandon Staley: "I don't know that."
Reporter: "Do you think you should be?"
Brandon Staley: "Yes." pic.twitter.com/UG0LFJMBmY
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 15, 2023
Once considered one of the NFL’s most promising young head coaches, it now appears to be a matter of not “if” but “when” the Chargers will part ways with Staley. After leading Los Angeles to a 9-7 record through his first 16 games, the Perry, Ohio, native came under fire for multiple decisions he made in a Week 18 loss to the Raiders that cost the Chargers a playoff spot at the end of the 2021 season.
Los Angeles proceeded to amass a 10-7 record the following season, but famously blew a 27-0 lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Wild Card round. Despite entering the 2023 campaign with lofty expectations, the Chargers are now just 5-9 and will be without star quarterback Justin Herbert for the remainder of the season after the fourth-year signal-caller suffered a fractured index finger last week.
