San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan could be losing one of his key coaches on his staff in the coming days.
On Monday, Mike Silver of The Athletic reported that he expects Kellen Moore to strongly consider 49ers assistant head coach Brandon Staley for the defensive coordinator position with the New Orleans Saints.
Once Kellen Moore signs his deal with the Saints, I'd expect him to have strong interest in former Chargers coach Brandon Staley as his defensive coordinator. Moore was Staley's OC in LA in 2023. Staley coordinated the league's No. 1 defense as the Rams' DC in 2020. @TheAthletic
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) February 10, 2025
Moore just helped the Philadelphia Eagles win their second Super Bowl title in his first year as their offensive coordinator. Over the last few weeks, Moore has been linked to the Saints’ head coaching vacancy, as they’re the last team without a head coach.
As for Staley, this could be a good opportunity to showcase his defensive playcalling skills in hopes of becoming a head coach again. The 42-year-old coach spent this past season in San Francisco as an assistant head coach after being fired by the Los Angeles Chargers.
Staley spent three years with the Chargers as their head coach, posting a 24-24 record. Staley’s tenure with the Chargers started well as he led them to a 9-8 record in 2021. He followed that up with a 10-7 record and a playoff appearance in 2022.
However, that lone playoff appearance was the beginning of the end as the Chargers lost 31-30 to the Jacksonville Jaguars, despite being up 27-0. Then in 2023, Los Angeles parted ways with Staley after the Chargers got embarrassed 63-21 by the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 14.
Before he became the Chargers head coach, Staley made a name for himself as the defensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. During Staley’s lone season at DC, the Rams’ defense was ranked first in scoring (18.5 points per game) and total defense (281.9 yards per game).
Nevertheless, if Shanahan loses Staley, he must find a replacement. Given we're almost a month away from the beginning of the new league year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Shanahan make an internal hire or not have an assistant head coach for the 2025 season.