Derrick Ansley said the words out loud Tuesday that many Chargers observers from near and far had been saying for almost all of Brandon Staley’s two-year tenure as the team’s head coach.
“Obviously, the first two years, we’ve had some growing pains,” said Ansley, who was promoted to the Chargers’ defensive coordinator position from their secondary coach after the departure of Renaldo Hill to the Miami Dolphins.
The Chargers improved defensively after Staley’s and Ansley’s first season. They ranked 21st in points given up this past season after ranking 29th in the 2021 season. They ranked 20th in yards surrendered this past season after ranking 23rd in ‘21.
But there was a sense that the Chargers could do better this past season, given their many talented defensive standouts, including edge rushers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, cornerback J.C. Jackson and safety Derwin James Jr.
Injuries to Bosa (groin) and Jackson (knee) proved difficult to overcome, though.
The Chargers managed to win four of their final five regular-season games, rallying for a 10-7 record and their first AFC playoff berth since the 2018 season. In many ways, it was their defense that sparked their late-season run, coming alive when it mattered most down the stretch.
However, the Chargers’ wild-card playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, when they coughed up a 27-0 lead en route to a 31-30 defeat, cast a dark cloud over what had been a rousing end to the regular season. Change was inevitable and it began with the naming of new offensive and defensive coordinators.
Kellen Moore was hired to replace Joe Lombardi as offensive coordinator.
Ansley was then promoted to replace Hill, getting a thumbs-up from James.
“One of the hardest workers I know,” James wrote, in part, on Twitter of Ansley, whose résumé includes a stint with the Raiders as a defensive backs coach in 2018, as well as assistant coaching positions with the universities of Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee…
Read the full article here
