Chris O’Leary’s turnaround of Western Michigan’s defense has paid off in a big way.
After revamping the Broncos’ defense to one of college football’s most elite units, O’Leary has landed as the Los Angeles Chargers’ new defensive coordinator.
O’Leary returns to the Chargers, where he spent one season (2024) as the team’s safeties coach before becoming Western Michigan’s defensive coordinator this past season.
The 34-year-old transformed WMU’s defense into the second-best unit in the Mid-American Conference, a pivotal piece to the Broncos winning their first MAC championship since 2016.
O’Leary replaces former Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who was hired as the Baltimore Ravens’ head coach earlier this month.
In his lone season at WMU, O’Leary’s defense ranked ninth in the FBS and second in the MAC for scoring defense (17.4 points per game) and total net yards allowed (305.5), which was also 19th-best in the country.
With O’Leary at the helm, WMU saw three of its defensive players – Nadame Tucker, Tate Hallock and Joshua Franklin — earn postseason awards – including Tucker, who not only earned MAC defensive player of the year and Vern Smtih Leadership honors, but also was a consensus All-American.
Before his time with the Chargers and the Broncos, O’Leary spent six seasons at Notre Dame, first as a defensive analyst before eventually becoming defensive backs and safeties coach.
WMU head coach Lance Taylor was on the same staff at Notre Dame from 2019-21, which paved the way for O’Leary to join Taylor in Kalamazoo for a season.
In his one season with Los Angeles, O’Leary was instrumental in working with Minter to transform the Chargers into the NFL’s top-ranked scoring defense (17.7 points per game).
O’Leary helped star safety Derwin James Jr. Become an All-Pro in Year 1 of Minter’s system, working with several star defensive backs across his coaching career – including All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton and All-American Xavier Watts.
O’Leary shined at North Vigo High School in Indiana before playing three seasons at Indiana State (2011-14), finishing with 397 yards receiving on 47 receptions.
He then became a graduate assistant at Georgia State in 2015 and 2016 before being named the safeties coach at Florida Tech in 2017.
O’Leary landed the safeties gig with the Chargers largely due to his relationship with Minter – the former Michigan play-caller was the defensive coordinator at Indiana State when O’Leary played there.
Taylor, entering his fourth season at WMU, will now be tasked with another new defensive play-caller, his fourth in Kalamazoo.