A new study has found that when it comes to social media hate over the last year, Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley is the most disliked in the NFL.
Being a head coach in any professional sport is a tough gig, but in the NFL it seems like the life span is shorter than most. The patience organizations have in developing a consistent winner can be short — as Matt Rhule found out this season. The same could be said for fans who can be very unforgiving when their favorite teams fail.
NFL fans letting their displeasure be known on social media is a pastime for some and was recently studied by the Action Network, with a specific focus on grievances against NFL head coaches. And when it comes to the coaches that received the most grief for their performance, Los Angeles Chargers head man Brandon Staley led the pack over the last year.
The report — which spanned a year and started in November 2021 — found that as much as 25% of the social media chatter about Staley has been negative for his leadership of the 6-6 Los Angeles Chargers. More than Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski (24%) and fired Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule (23%).
Staley is in the middle of his second year in the position and the Los Angeles Chargers have a 15-14 record in that time. After a strong start to this season, the team is in a slump, having lost three of their last four.
On the flip side of the fan grievance spectrum, there is one particular coach who has received very little hate on social media since last November. And that is Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.
After getting the worst of it from Eagles fans last season, only 7% of the talk about Sirianni over the last year has been complaints about the work he has done with the team. It’s unsurprising since Philadelphia has been one of the best teams in the NFL this season, and the head coach has helped to turn young QB Jalen Hurts into a legitimate MVP candidate in 2022.
Behind him in the rankings of the study was former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. The new leader of the Jacksonville Jaguars has helped turn the team from absolute laughing stock in 2021 into a respectable bunch this season and only 9% of the social media takes on his work were negative as a result.
Behind Sirianni and Pederson was Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus (also with 9%), Pittsburgh Steelers great Mike Tomlin (10%), and Minnesota Vikings’ headman Kevin O’Connell (10%).
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