{"id":713260,"date":"2026-01-29T05:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T05:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/713260\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T05:41:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T05:41:14","slug":"chargers-hire-chris-oleary-as-their-defensive-coordinator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/713260\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers hire Chris O’Leary as their defensive coordinator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Chargers<\/a> are bringing back a familiar name to guide their defense moving forward.<\/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 in 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. Before that, he was a wide receiver at Indiana State from 2011-14.<\/p>\n

With the Chargers in 2024, O\u2019Leary helped a defensive unit led by coordinator Jesse Minter<\/a> that allowed just 17.7 points per game \u2014 the best mark in the NFL. Led by Derwin James Jr., the Chargers had a 75.9 passer rating when targeted, best for third in the NFL among safety units in 2024.<\/p>\n

The question is whether O\u2019Leary can replicate the same 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 under Minter and Harbaugh in 2024. Last season, the team was fifth in yards per game (285.2) and ninth in points allowed (20.0).<\/p>\n

The good news for O\u2019Leary? Most of the Chargers\u2019 top defensive players will be back next season.<\/p>\n

The Chargers re-signed Teair Tart to a three-year contract Monday, keeping their anchor on the defensive line. 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>.<\/p>\n

Re-signing outside linebacker Odafe Oweh<\/a> will be among the Chargers\u2019 priorities, especially if pending free agent Khalil Mack 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 bringing back a familiar name to guide their defense moving forward. Chris O\u2019Leary, who worked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[44240,241,103399,103401,2908,2792,29943,7,853,103400,1014,262,539,2444,2443,8919,6,529,11358,19555,11065],"class_list":["post-713260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-chargers","tag-charger","tag-chargers","tag-chris-oleary","tag-coordinator-jesse-minter","tag-defense","tag-defensive-coordinator","tag-defensive-unit","tag-football","tag-game","tag-good-mark","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleschargers","tag-mac","tag-nfl","tag-point","tag-team-history","tag-wednesday-night","tag-western-michigan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115976790616675599","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}