Chargers hiring Brendan Nugent as offensive line coach

Frank Smith will be replaced by the former Saints OL coach.

On Friday evening, ESPN’s Field Yates reported that the Chargers are hiring former Saints offensive line coach Brendan Nugent to replace Frank Smith as their new offensive line coach. Along with that move, the team is also hiring Chris Gould (kicker Robbie Gould’s brother) to be their assistant special teams coach and bringing on Mike Hiestand as an offensive assistant.

Nugent had been with the Saints since 2015 where he worked with the run game coordinator/tight ends coach Dan Roushar for most of that time before stepping in as their offensive line coach prior to the 2021 season. Overall, he has 17 years of coaching experience, including stints with the Bears and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

Since 2017, the Saints line has allowed a league-low 94 sacks while producing 10 Pro Bowl selections.

Gould has spent past five seasons as the special teams assistant coach for the Broncos. Before that, he spent two seasons in Denver as a coaching assistant. Gould got his coaching start at Syracuse as a quality control coach (2012-2014) after playing his college ball at Virginia (2004-2007).

Hiestand has been the assistant to the head coach for the Broncos since 2019 while also holding the role of a quality control coach. Prior to that, he spent several seasons as the defensive coordinator for Ave Maria University and two seasons as a defensive assistant at Notre Dame.