Swirling in the tempest of a stupendous disgrace, the Los Angeles Chargers pulled the plug on head coach Brandon Staley and General Manager Tom Telesco this Friday morning. The annihilation didn't come unwarranted, rather it was a consequence of toil lost in the wilderness of, undoubtedly, one of the franchise's most disastrous defeat till date.
Glorified as semi-finalists last season, the Chargers plunged into the disarray of bitter disappointments this year as they grapple with a disillusioned 5-9 standing. Nothing screams of their agonizing plight more than the nightmarish five loses of their last six matches. An atrocious 63-21 defeat in the hands of Las Vegas on Thursday night was the hammering blow that sent them spiraling into the bottom of the insurgent AFC West.
The gruesome defeat inscribed an ignominious record in franchise history when Chargers swallowed the most points on record, and slumped under the weight of a third-worst 42-point margin.
Staley, holding a bare silver lining with a 24-25 overall record, joins the unfortunate club of fired NFL coaches this season, accompanied by Raiders’ Josh McDaniels and Carolina’s Frank Reich. The Chargers’ abrupt decision to part ways with their coach mid-season marked a first since 1998.
The curse of the terrible season was not singularly borne by the coach. Telesco's tenure as general manager since 2013 came to an unceremonious end on Friday. Captaining the ship through turbulent waters, he managed a dismal 86-95 overall along with only three playoff appearances.
In the face of such grim tidings, some bold voices dared to call for the instantaneous dismissal of Staley as early as halftime when Chargers trailed behind at a staggering 42-0. Amazon Prime Video analyst Richard Sherman voiced such a sentiment openly.
'Brandon Staley. I hate to say this because you don’t ever want to call for somebody’s job, but they should fire him. They should make history. They should fire him at halftime,” Sherman commented, proposing an Uber X exit for the fallen coach.
The overarching shadow of Thursday's cataclysmic defeat had even the confident Staley grappling with doubts about his future. When queried whether he would still be at the helm on Friday, he let out a stark 'I don’t know.'
So here we find ourselves, in the storm-battered remains of the Los Angeles Chargers' face-off with defeat, peeling back layers of a shockingly premature end of tenure for both Staley and Telesco. The unrelenting tide of football waits for none - but where it will carry Chargers next, only time can tell.
