What DC Chris O'Leary's First Week of Camp Tells Us About His Vision

The Los Angeles Chargers are now entering their second week of practice with their first padded practice scheduled for Tuesday August 4th. This offseason brought about changes for both sides of the ball with both offensive and defensive coordinators being replaced.

Excitement has surrounded the hiring of Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator leaving less outside hype about the hiring of Chris O'Leary. New defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary led one of the most dramatic unit turnarounds in the NCAA last season at Western Michigan.

The first week of training camp has provided a glimpse into the mindset and on-field expectations from the defense. O'Leary is a direct disciple of of the Jesse Minter coaching tree. He installed the exact same defense at Western Michigan and even showed the team film from the Chargers to study and learn from.

He has promised to do two things for the defensive unit, to evolve and elevate the system that is in place. The question with O'Leary's arrival has been simple: what is he going to do differently than his predecessor Jesse Minter?

O'Leary's vision for the Chargers defense

Jul 30, 2026; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley at a training camp press conference at The Bolt. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Linebacker Daiyan Henley spoke with The Athletic Football Show host Robert Mays for an interview from training camp. Henley was asked about the differences so far with O'Leary calling the defense and gave a simple answer.

"The system is what it is, but CO (Chris O'Leary) as a leader, as a coordinator, he's bringing his own flare to this defense," Henley said. "His energy, his willingness to attack. I think that's something that we feel."

Looking back at O'Leary's coaching history it is easy to see where he may have picked up a more aggressive tendency than his predecessor despite having shared history. O'Leary spent five years in South Bend Indiana coaching on Notre Dame's staff under Clark Lea and Marcus Freeman, both of whom have much more aggressive tendencies overall.

One of the expected differences will be a more aggressive use of the linebackers near the line of scrimmage. Minter would often use simulated pressures to get preferred one-on-one matchups across the defensive front, however he preferred to send only four rushers on passing downs. O'Leary may choose to send additional rushers more often based on his history.

The Chargers defensive backs also have all seemed to take notes from that aggressive play style as they have been loud and disruptive so far through camp. If the Chargers defense becoming more aggressive indicates sending more rushers on passing downs, that may also mean more man-to-man coverage

Most of the defensive players asked throughout OTAs and to start training camp have been coy and somewhat secretive around the differences O'Leary is bringing to the defense. One of the more common words that has been used is "attack". It appears that attacking mindset is coming to fruition as Daiyan Henley described.

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