Chargers’ Brandon Staley explains mindset behind fourth-down aggressiveness: ‘There has to be a fearlessness to play in this game’

Abraham Smith

Brandon Staley was a freshman head coach with the Chargers in 2021, but that didn’t stop him from being one of the most aggressive fourth-down play callers in the NFL.

Staley’s Chargers finished fourth 34 times last season. That was the third-highest in the NFL behind only the Lions (41) and Bears (36).

However, Staley’s aggressiveness is particularly notable given that the Chargers were the only team with a track record to attempt to convert at least 30 fourth downs last season.

And some of his gambles proved costly, with some errors occurring deep in his own zone or at times when other coaches would have poked around and their defenses were trying to make the offense work.

MORE: Staley on fourth down tries against Chiefs – ‘This is how we’re going to play’

Staley has often been questioned and criticized for this, but he’s willing to live with that, as he explained in a recent interview with The Athletic.

“There has to be a fearlessness to play in this game and I wanted to establish that,” Staley said. “The story of this team when I got here was like someone would get hurt, they would open a lead, something catastrophic would happen. There’s this ‘store’ thing. There are all these external factors that I know in my life, they are just excuses. These are all just excuses.

And how do you change that? Well, you have to do things differently, you have to have a different approach. … Our mindset will be on us, not on the opponent. It’s on us. So if we develop that fearless mindset, we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to put the ball in our hands, we’re going to trust our guys to make plays.

If we lose, we will do it on our terms, not someone else’s terms.

Although Staley’s strategy proved costly at times in 2021, the Chargers were still one of the best fourth-down teams in the league. They converted 64.7 percent of their tries, which ranked fourth-best in the NFL and second among teams with more than 20 fourth attempts.

MORE: Brandon Staley explains controversial fourth down call that backfired against Raiders

That alone would be enough to convince Staley to go ahead with his plan, but he believes it has another benefit. He believes fourth-place finish put pressure on quarterback Justin Herbert, which in turn boosted his confidence.

“The first person I thought of was Justin. I wasn’t thinking about anything or anyone else,” Staley said. “For me, I came in and said I know I have a special quarterback. I also know that part of my responsibility is to train him. Part of my responsibility is to finish him off. And I know that too, when I take the ball out of my hand, I also know what that will bring.

In order for him to grow and be as good as he will be, he needs to be under pressure in those moments. Whether he throws it or not, it’s not the point. The ball is in his hands, it is in our hands as a team and that’s how it all started for me.

Once again, Staley’s findings are difficult to argue with. Herbert enjoyed a strong sophomore season and he was an elite fourth-place passer. He completed 15 of 22 passes for a league-high 197 yards and two touchdowns. His 126.5 passer rating in those situations ranked fourth among NFL quarterbacks with at least 10 fourth-down pass attempts.

quarterback Fourth passer rating
Joe Burrow 145.1
Kyler Murray 136.2
Zach Wilson 135.5
JustinHerbert 126.5

Certainly, Staley’s plans come with some warts. Chargers fans saw this firsthand when the team failed to convert two fourth downs early in their own territory in a 34-6 loss to the Ravens in Week 6.

But overall, it’s still hard to argue with the numbers the team is producing. And that’s why Staley seems keen to carry his aggressive play into his sophomore season.

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