Back in 2020, Rams head coach Sean McVay brought in Brandon Staley to be his team’s defensive coordinator.
The two built a successful partnership, as Los Angeles finished with the league’s No. 1 defense in yards and scoring en route to a 10-6 record and a playoff victory over the Seahawks.
That success led to Staley becoming the head coach of the cross-town Chargers, who fired Staley after nearly three seasons on Friday.
McVay was asked about Staley’s firing during his Friday press conference.
“You want to be there for your friend,” McVay said, via Gary Klein of the L.A. Times. “And I also know what a great coach he is and what he’s meant to me, what I’ve learned from him. These are things that are really challenging, and I’ve grown up in the business and there’s a lot of tough things.
“But I know what a great coach he is. I know what I’ve seen from my own eyes and I know that he’s going to respond and he’s got a really bright future.”
Several of McVay’s assistants have become head coaches since he became the Rams head coach in 2017. Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is one current member of the staff who could be considered for an opening once again in the coming offseason.
“When good things happen in your building, good opportunities come, just like I was so fortunate and blessed a handful of years ago to get this opportunity,” McVay said. “Does it make you better collectively as a staff if you lose people? No.
“But is that what is probably the most gratifying? When you take a step back and you see people get opportunities that are earned and deserved because of the way they possibly poured into the players, myself, this building? Heck yeah.”