Chargers sticking with G.M., coach
Posted by Mike Florio on December 27, 2010, 8:03 PM EST
As expected, the Chargers won’t be firing their head coach simply because they failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time in Norv Turner’s four-year tenure.
Owner Dean Spanos said Monday that the team will keep Turner and his boss, G.M. A.J. Smith.
“I’ve learned the hard way,” Spanos told Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Your G.M. and coach have to be two individuals who work together. It’s very difficult for some teams; I’ve been through it. I like the working relationship at this level.”
By saying he’s “been through it,” Spanos is referring to the Marty Schottenheimer experience. He and Smith clashed, and Schottenheimer was surprisingly fired in February 2007, after a 14-2 regular season and a one-and-out playoff run.
“We’re as disappointed as anyone,” Spanos said. “But I look to 1996 to 2003, when we couldn’t even get [beyond] 8-8. We’ve turned it around, to where we’re a good team and a good organization. There’s a lot of continuity, but we’re still short.”
The reason they’re short in December is that they routinely don’t show up in September or October. And that’s the challenge moving forward — figuring out why the team has struggled in the early stages of the season under Turner, and getting the players to play in the first six or seven games like they ordinarily do down the stretch.
“The easiest thing in the world is to start over,” Spanos said. “Who the hell do I go hire? Blow the whole thing up? We’re a pretty good team but we have to make the right moves. We’ve fallen. It could have been our draft picks or our free-agent moves. But we have a good core, and I don’t care what anybody says. I’m not afraid to make changes. If I thought it was warranted, I would do it. We have a good foundation here.”
Though many think that better handling of the Vincent Jackson contract dispute by Smith could have made a big impact on the season if Jackson had been available for more than a handful of games, Spanos doesn’t seem to be holding any grudges against the G.M. who dug in both with Jackson and left tackle Marcus McNeill.
“I like A.J., even though he’s a bit goofy,” Spanos said. “I trust him. He’ll tell you he’s made mistakes. Who hasn’t? But he takes chances. Sometimes you lose the bet, but if you’re going to win a world championship, you’ve got to take chances. I learned that from my father in our business. A.J.’s committed 100 percent to this organization.”
Smith reiterated that Turner isn’t leaving.
“When you have a coach that is competent, loyal and trustworthy and you believe in him, you stay the course,” Smith told Canepa. “Norv Turner will be leading this football team.”
So what went wrong in 2010?
“It wasn’t coaching,” Smith said. “Sometimes the best thing in the world is to make very few changes. There’s an image out there that Norv is my puppet. Just the opposite. [Editor's note: Wait, so Smith is Turner's puppet?] The man knows what he’s doing. People may have the opposite opinion. The coach is coming back. Other teams make decisions to go in another direction. I did — four years ago. I know it’s frustrating to the fans, but I believe in this coach.”
In the end, the opinions of Spanos and Smith are all that really matters. And they surely realize that, as long as they have Philip Rivers at quarterback, the Chargers will be contenders in a watered-down AFC West.
But there’s a reason that they’ve gotten the word out today, one day after the Chargers were eliminated from the playoffs. To the extent that any speculation regarding Turner or Smith may have blossomed, Spanos and Smith have pre-emptively stomped on it.
