Chargers Hire Former NFL Player as New Coach to Unleash Part of the Defense

The Los Angeles Chargers lost their defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to the Baltimore Ravens this offseason. They replaced Minter with a familiar face in Western Michigan defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary who was on the Chargers staff in 2024.

Chris O'Leary is a true protege off of Minter's coaching tree. He came to Los Angeles in 2024 from Notre Dame. He was the Chargers safeties coach in 2024 and has a long history working alongside Minter going back to his first coaching stop.

O'Leary installed the same defense with minor nuances taken from Notre Dame at Western Michigan. In his one year at Western Michigan, O'Leary turned around the WMU Broncos and had a top ten scoring defense and elite sack and quarterback pressure production.

Minter's departure and O'Leary's arrival meant that some staff changes could follow. A new coach appears to be arriving in Los Angeles who was with O'Leary at Western Michigan.

The #Chargers have finalized the hiring of Western Michigan defensive ends coach/pass rush specialist Sean Spence, sources tell @CBSSports.

The former Miami and NFL linebacker worked with new Chargers DC Chris O’Leary at WMU and helped the team rank among the nation’s best… pic.twitter.com/6BDt5nwxYb
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 13, 2026

Who is Sean Spence?

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Sean Spence — Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images

The Chargers are set to hire former NFL linebacker Sean Spence to the coaching staff according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. Spence coached the edge rushers at WMU under O'Leary.

As a player Spence was a third round pick in the 2012 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers out the University of Miami. He played for the Steelers, Titans and briefly with the Colts before finishing his career back with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2017.

Spence got his first job coaching in 2023 with Western Michigan as an analyst and coached linebackers in 2024. O'Leary arrived for the 2025 season and he switched to coaching edge rushers.

In 2024, Western Michigan only had 13 sacks as a defense, good enough for 118th in the nation. In 2025, they finished 5th in the nation with 43 sacks recorded. After logging only 13 sacks in 2024, WMU had an edge rusher under Spence log 14 sacks of his own.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz is reporting that the Chargers are hiring Spence to coach Daiyan Henley and the inside linebackers but the Chargers have yet to confirm the hire or his role on the coaching staff.

Nadame Tucker

Prior to 2025, edge rusher Nadame Tucker had played minimal snaps in his college career at the Univeristy of Houston. He transferred to WMU to be a key player in O'Leary's new defense. Under O'Leary and Spence, Tucker put up career numbers ranking second in the nation in sacks behind only Texas Tech's David Bailey.

Tucker went from a relative unknown to getting an invitation to the premier All-Star game of the pre-draft process. Tucker performed well and is projected to be drafted early on day three on the NFL draft.

The TFLs, the sacks, the forced fumbles... our guy did it all, helping the Broncos to the 16th-best scoring defense in the NATION! Congratulations to @nadame_tucker, the Vern Smith Leadership Award winner and MAC MVP! pic.twitter.com/kSyfX3hIfJ
— Western Michigan Football (@WMU_Football) December 4, 2025

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