Familiar face Chris O'Leary returns, bringing impressive college defensive success to reshape the Chargers' unit under Jim Harbaugh.
As the Los Angeles Chargers continue to round out the coaching staff for the upcoming season, the biggest splash came on offense with the hire of Mike McDaniel. On the other side of the ball, the defense is now under new leadership after the team lost Jesse Minter to the Baltimore Ravens, where he is taking over as head coach. It did not take long for LA to make its move, as Chris O’Leary is set to take over as defensive coordinator, as first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
This is not O’Leary’s first stint with the Chargers. He coached the safeties in 2024 and worked closely with Derwin James, so he is already familiar with the building, the roster, and the standard Minter established. Now, he returns with a much bigger job and a chance to shape the entire unit.
O’Leary’s path is interesting because he played college football at Indiana State as a wide receiver. That background tends to show up in how a defensive coach teaches coverage, route recognition, and how offenses try to stress leverage and spacing. After his playing career, he worked his way up the college ranks with stops at Georgia State and Florida Tech before landing at Notre Dame in 2018. From there, he climbed from analyst to position coach and spent six seasons in South Bend through 2023, including multiple postseason runs.
After his year with the Chargers in 2024, O’Leary took over as Western Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2025, and the results were loud. The Broncos finished second in the MAC in scoring defense at 17.4 points allowed per game, which ranked ninth nationally. They were also second in the MAC in total yards allowed at 305.5 per game, and they held opponents to 179.9 passing yards per game, a top 20 mark nationally.
That one year as a college DC clearly mattered in Los Angeles' process. The Chargers confirmed they interviewed O’Leary on Wednesday, and the reports quickly moved toward agreement later that day. Simply put, he knows the organization, he has already coached key pieces in the secondary and he just put a full defense on his back at Western Michigan. With Harbaugh leading the program and McDaniel running the offense, O’Leary steps into a situation built to win now.
Minter was excellent, so the bar is high, but this is a hire that makes a lot of sense on paper and has real upside if the defensive jump he sparked in 2025 carries over to the NFL level.