This should be an easy fix but sadly I haven't used essentials in a while and I don't know what to look up for this. I want to get rid of the < > that are around the usernames, like <[Rank] {Person}>, I'd like to be [Rank] {Person}: or something. If you need to see my config file just ask. Thanks.
Do you have EssentialsChat installed? If you have PermissionsEx you should switch your chat manager to ChatEx as it doesn't have problems on newer server versions. https://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/chatex/