{"id":551170,"date":"2026-01-29T08:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/551170\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T08:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:41:13","slug":"chargers-hire-chris-oleary-as-their-defensive-coordinator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/551170\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers hire Chris O’Leary as their defensive coordinator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Chargers<\/a> are turning to a familiar name to guide their defense.<\/p>\n

Chris O\u2019Leary<\/a>, who worked as the Chargers\u2019 safeties coach in 2024 under coach Jim Harbaugh<\/a> before spending 2025 as the defensive coordinator at Western Michigan, was named the Chargers\u2019 defensive coordinator on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Leary helped guide Western Michigan to a 10-4 record and the Mid-American Conference championship. His defense ranked ninth in the Football Bowl Subdivision and was second in the MAC in scoring defense (17.4 points allowed per game).<\/p>\n

Before his stint with the Chargers, O\u2019Leary spent six seasons coaching in different roles at Notre Dame, eventually becoming a defensive backs and safeties coach. He worked under former Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter<\/a> as a graduate assistant at Georgia State in 2014 and 2015. He played at Indiana State as a wide receiver from 2010-14.<\/p>\n

The Chargers allowed just 17.7 points per game \u2014 the best mark in the NFL \u2014 under O\u2019Leary and Minter in 2024. Led by safety Derwin James Jr., the Chargers had a 75.9 passer rating when targeted, third among NFL safety units in 2024.<\/p>\n

The question is whether O\u2019Leary can replicate the success Minter achieved en route to landing a head coaching job<\/a> with the Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n

After working together to win a national title at Michigan, the Minter-Harbaugh combination revived a Chargers defense that struggled under previous coach Brandon Staley<\/a>. Inheriting a team that ranked 28th in yards allowed per game (363) and 24th in points allowed per game (23.4) in 2023, the Chargers moved up to 11th in yards allowed (324) and first in points allowed per game in 2024. Last season, the team was fifth in yards per game (285.2) and ninth in points allowed (20.0).<\/p>\n

Helping O\u2019Leary\u2019s cause? Most of the Chargers\u2019 top defensive players are returning. <\/p>\n

The team has an estimated $80.5 million in salary-cap space, according to Overthecap.com<\/a>, and general manager Joe Hortiz said he\u2019s planning to use it<\/a>. In their first big move of the offseason, the Chargers re-signed Teair Tart<\/a> to a three-year contract Monday, keeping their anchor on the defensive line. <\/p>\n

Re-signing outside linebacker Odafe Oweh<\/a> will be among the Chargers\u2019 priorities, especially if pending free agent Khalil Mack<\/a> opts for retirement.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Leary isn\u2019t as high-profile a hiring as Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel<\/a>, but he stands to take over a defensive unit that could make him look better than a $12,000 designer jacket<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chargers are turning to a familiar name to guide their defense. Chris O\u2019Leary, who worked as the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":551171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,83569,7151,121364,241873,262,123226,241872,1910,241871,2961,224,2444,5337,16333,449,241874,28447,175079],"class_list":{"0":"post-551170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-charger","11":"tag-chargers","12":"tag-chris-oleary","13":"tag-coordinator-jesse-minter","14":"tag-defense","15":"tag-defensive-coordinator","16":"tag-defensive-unit","17":"tag-game","18":"tag-good-mark","19":"tag-la","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-los-angeles-times","22":"tag-losangeles","23":"tag-mac","24":"tag-point","25":"tag-team-history","26":"tag-wednesday-night","27":"tag-western-michigan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115977498961475126","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}