The Chargers spent this offseason replacing one of the best defensive coordinators in franchise history, but one name tied to that coaching tree is already making noise in the SEC.
Los Angeles moved on from Jesse Minter after he left for a head coaching vacancy with the Baltimore Ravens, and the team brought in Chris O'Leary from Western Michigan, where he had been serving as defensive coordinator. O'Leary’s path is part of a growing network of coaches connected to Minter, with ties stretching through several college programs, especially Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.
That chain runs deep. O'Leary played at Indiana State while Minter was on the coaching staff, then got his first coaching job under Minter at Georgia State.
Later, when Minter moved on to the NFL, O'Leary took a different route and landed at Notre Dame, where he worked under defensive coordinator Clark Lea. When Lea became Vanderbilt’s head coach after the 2020 season, O'Leary was the one who recommended Minter for the defensive coordinator job.
That Vanderbilt branch of the story kept growing. Minter and O'Leary eventually reunited in Los Angeles in 2024, and now another former Chargers defender is climbing the ladder in Nashville.
Steve Gregory, who played safety for the Chargers and later worked on Mike McDaniel's 2022 Miami Dolphins staff as safeties coach, was promoted by Lea to defensive coordinator in 2025 after serving as co-defensive coordinator in 2024. Gregory originally joined the Chargers as an undrafted free agent out of Syracuse after the 2006 draft and spent six seasons with the team.
His first year calling the defense at Vanderbilt brought real change. The Commodores became more aggressive, leaning harder into pressure, blitzes and downhill play. Compared with the 2024 unit, which looked more like Jesse Minter’s style of limiting explosives and keeping a lid on the offense, Gregory’s 2025 group was far more willing to attack the line of scrimmage and use linebackers there more often.
The results followed. Vanderbilt climbed from 126th in the nation in scoring defense to 50th in one season, and the run defense finished 18th in the country. Gregory now heads into his second season as the play-caller with help coming from the transfer portal.
The SEC is a tough place for a young coordinator to prove himself, but Vanderbilt’s staff is clearly bought in. “He's a genius. He's a savant with the game,” said Seth Payne, Vanderbilt's defensive line coach when asked about Gregory.
If Gregory keeps trending upward against SEC competition, he could become a name to watch for the Chargers down the road, thanks to the ties he already has to the franchise and its current coaching staff.
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