ENGLEWOOD — Brandon Staley, in many ways, is the opposite of Vic Fangio.
Staley, the head coach of the Chargers, is 38 and one of the most outgoing and talkative coaches in the NFL. Fangio, the head coach of the Broncos, is 63 and known for his mundane and serious personality.
But the two are connected by football, having coached alongside each other in Chicago (2017-18) and Denver (2019). And both are considered two of the brightest defensive minds in football.
On Sunday, they will face each other on opposite sidelines for the first time in their careers, as Fangio's Broncos face Staley's Chargers in a matchup between mentor and mentee.
"There's not anyone I have more respect for in the National Football League than Vic," Staley said. "We're going to face a team as well-prepared as any team we'll ever play here because that's the hallmark of a Vic Fangio type team."
Staley has risen quickly in the coaching ranks, starting his career as a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois in 2006. After jumping around from places like Hutchinson Community College, John Carroll, James Madison and Tennessee, Staley finally got his chance in the NFL in 2017 when he was interviewed by Fangio to be the Bears' outside linebackers coach.
Fangio, Chicago's defensive coordinator at the time, had already proven himself both in the college and pro ranks, spending time as Stanford's defensive coordinator in 2010 and the 49ers' from 2011-2014.
"The advantage I had was I had been studying Vic for a long time,’’ Staley said of the interview. “When I was in junior college, defensive coordinator at Hutchins Community College in Kansas, that’s when Vic was at Stanford. I just remember thinking, 'how did this guy do this?' I didn’t know who he was. And just started following him then."
Staley, of course, impressed in the interview.
“It’s just kind of a feel thing," Fangio said. "I like to let them do a lot of the talking rather than me asking a ton of questions."
Though, Staley left the interview having no idea how the interview went.
“The interview was tough because if you know Vic he didn’t give me any feedback. I mean, at all. There was no expression," Staley said. "No sort of energy one way or the other. I just felt like I was just talking. I had a lot of stuff prepared and I was going through it and kind of looked at him and said, ‘We good?’ And we’d go to the next thing. We took a break and I talked to a couple of the guys that were on the staff and they kind of asked me how it’s going, and I was like, ‘Well, he hasn’t said anything at all.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, that’s a good sign.’"
It certainly was a good sign, as Fangio hired Staley in Chicago and brought him to Denver in 2019 when he was named head coach.
After one season with the Broncos, Staley was hired by Sean McVay to be the Los Angeles Rams' defensive coordinator. And after only one year with McVay, he was hired as the Chargers' head coach, making him the third-youngest head coach in the NFL behind only McVay, who is 35, and Cincinnati's Zac Taylor, who is seven months younger.
"I knew he had the good ability to be a really good coach," Fangio said. "For me to predict that he would be a head coach four years later — I didn’t predict that, but I knew Brandon had special abilities as a coach. He had a really good understanding of the game on both sides of the ball. I was really happy to hire him and thought he would progress very well, and he did."
Through 10 games, Staley appears to have the Chargers trending in the right direction. Sitting at 6-4 and tied for second place in the AFC West, they look like a true playoff contender after falling short of expectations last season, going 7-9.
Today, Staley credits Fangio with much of his success. For him, he'll always be indebted to Fangio, who took a chance on him Chicago and Denver.
"I think that's just the hallmark of him, the consistency and performance," Staley said. "The level of detail and focus that he has and I think every player knows there's nobody working harder in that building than Vic Fangio. I learned so much from him that way and then being head coach of the team, just how he applied all the knowledge that he has to both sides and all three phases of the game.
"He's a complete coach and I got to see that his first year. He's as good as it gets in the NFL."
Chubb expected to play Sunday
Broncos outside linebacker Bradley Chubb has officially been activated to the 53-man roster for Sunday, meaning he is expected to play against the Chargers. Chubb, who is considered one of the best edge rushers in the NFL, has been on the injured reserve since Week 2 when he injured his ankle.