Chargers will fire Norv Turner and A.J. Smith at the end of the season.
 

Pro Football Weekly ‏@ProFootballWkly

Per @UTKevinAcee, the #Chargers will fire Norv Turner and A.J. Smith at the end of the season.



It will be finished.

Not only will head coach Norv Turner be gone at the end of the season, but general manager A.J. Smith will be fired as well, as the Chargers make a monumental break from an era that was arguably the most successful and most disappointing in team history.

Sources said this week that Chargers President Dean Spanos essentially decided at least a month ago that Turner’s time was drawing to a rapid close. Spanos, sources said, has more recently resigned himself to the fact that Smith can’t be kept in the current environment of plummeting performance and fan unrest.

And unlike last year, when Spanos found enough reason for clemency in a strong finish and past accomplishments, those with knowledge of plans that are already in motion said it seems certain there will be no last-minute change of heart this time.

Spanos is waiting until after the season, more because that is his preferred time to make such moves than due to any faith in the Chargers’ microscopic playoff chances.

It is not known who will take over for Turner, but current Director of Player Personnel Jimmy Raye is the apparent replacement for Smith. Raye, who has been with the Chargers for 17 seasons, will ascend to a job much like Smith’s but with his new right-hand man being the owner’s son, John Spanos.

The younger Spanos, currently the team’s Director of College Scouting, has long been in line to take over the Chargers’ football operations, but the plan was for that to not happen until the expiration of Smith’s contract after the 2014 season.

People familiar with the discussions say Raye has occasionally dissented in personnel matters over the years. Perhaps most notably, Raye fought to draft inside linebacker David Harris over Buster Davis in 2007. Davis, drafted 30th by the Chargers, was limited by injury to two starts and is now out of the league. Harris was taken by the New York Jets with the 47th overall selection, and has started 80 games. He was an All-Pro in 2009.

That is merely one instance, but there are myriad examples of Smith’s golden touch in the draft having all but vanished, as his top picks in 2009 and ’10 have been largely disappointing.

The Chargers will owe Smith $4 million for his remaining two years and Turner $3 million for the final year of his contract.

Smith joined the Chargers as Assistant General Manager in 2002, joining longtime friend and mentor John Butler. Spanos tabbed Smith as Butler’s successor following Butler’s death in April 2003.

The Chargers went 4-12 in 2003, but Smith dramatically remade the roster prior to the 2004 season, and the Chargers won the AFC West with a 12-4 record that year.

They would go to the postseason four straight years, from 2006 to 2009, winning 14 games in 2006 and 13 in 2009. Their 67 regular season victories from 2004 to 2009 were fifth-most in the NFL.

However, the Chargers made it to the AFC Championship just once, in 2007, and this will mark the third straight season they have not been to the playoffs.

Damnit

must be nice.

See Clark. This is how you handle shit!

We find it's always better to fire people on a Friday. Studies have statistically shown that there's less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week.

I wish I was a fan of an organization that had balls...

**** its time to grow up Reerun and move on....

LMAO

First off, this is nothing more than a rumor (although extremely probable).

Secondly, this is how you handle shit? What? By holding onto them two years too long? Dean Spanos is hardly showing "balls".

Spanos holding onto them 2 years to long is like Clark holding onto Pioli 4 years too long

Water is wet, the sky is blue.

Bring them in for a look?

We hold on to shit in KC years past its life expectency... Dont give me that shit....

the moment Piol drafted Tyson Jackson and the rest of that 09 draft he should have been fired on the spot

It's weird Norv don't have a couple rings in SD by now. Wow!

Well, that is what happens when you underachieve+fail to replace your talent (Merriman, LT, Sproles, Jackson, etc.)

For as much as I don't care for Norv, I do like the fact that his teams peaked during the last part of the season (don't like the fact that they played so poorly the early part of the season but peaking at the right time is always great)

they only held on to them for about 4 years too long

Since Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting this news, I'd say it's 99.999999999999999999% correct.

If this does happen..

Domino effect...

Please, please, please!!!!

I could report this news and it would be 99.99999999999% correct.

It was pretty common knowledge that this was their last chance.

The Chargers should have kept Marty to coach the regular.season,.then.brought in Norv to coach the playoffs.
Posted via Mobile Device

my dentists mistress younger brothers cousin told me norv and al are looking for a house together in leawood right this second!

More like "Welcome to your new home KC"-effect, if we continue trending in our current upward direction...

No, it's not particularly weird at all. He is a terrible, terrible excuse for a head coach.

Can't motivate his players, way overconservative, coaches from the fetal position, horrendous time management, an offense that hasn't changed since 1992, etc.

He should be kissing the ground that Aikman, Irvin, and Emmitt walk on, because they've kept him in this league for almost 20 years past his sell-by date.

Hey!!!!

I'm trying to be optimistic.

MAYBE this will force Hunt to do something about Dumb and Dumber if Norv and AJ are gone.

cant wait till norv is calling our plays next year

Are you paying attention, Clark?

I've always said he's like Romeo. Very good coach, but absolutely horrible head coach material.

I still think he'd make an excellent offensive coordinator, especially if Geno Smith is our QB. Keep in mind that AJ Smith took a wrecking ball to Norv's offensive talent. Replaced Sproles/LT with Ryan Matthews. What used to be Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates, and Malcolm Floyd at a distant third is now Floyd at first and a worn down beaten up version of Gates.

If you surround him with a head coach who handles the discipline and game management, surround him with talent, and allow him to focus primarily on being an offensive coordinator, think he would do very well as a coordinator.

From SI.com

UhhHmm, Clark. Snooze, you loose buddy!

Wow, 4 WCO guys. That's kinda rare to see so many all applying for a former non WCO place. Pretty cool IMO

That means at the worst Kelly or Shaw will be available for us...

I have heard those names mentioned at other places. Don't be so sure at worst one of the two will be available.

Well, now I'm sad.

It better not be Andy Reid, but there's rumors that he's headed to Dallas next year anyway, and Jerruh is crazy enough to hire him.

David Shaw would be a good hire.

booooooooo

According to Acee on NFL Network, he's saying Norv's replacement won't be Andy Reid but it will likely be a "proven head coach". Maybe Cowher?

Could be Chucky but I doubt it.

I don't think gruden will be wco when he comes back to coaching.

Hate to say it but of all the openings SD may be the best one.
QB in place, use the 1st pick on a Left Tackle and get some WR help and they
would be good to go with a D minded coach.

Maybe Mariucci.

You really think he's going to change his philosophies, change terminology, and possibly switch blocking schemes?

LMAO

Was Jimmy Raye our offensive coordinator under Marty?

He has been studying chip Kelly's offense like crazy. It either means he's intent on going NCAA or he's going to nfl with a more spread oriented offense.

That was Jimmy Raye II. His son Jimmy Raye III is the one who works for the Chargers.

You do realize that means he's going to incorporate aspects of it into his offense?

All the terminology is going to be West Coast. Thus, he'll be running a WCO with possibly zone-read and 1-word hurry up calls, with possibly more zone blocking plays.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindduc...the_almos.html
This is an article about a man who clearly knows offenses are gravitating to the spread and really studied up on it. Again, I think people are wrong if people think he will traditional west coast or that he will run a hurry up wco. He sounds like he is very intrigued by the spread and I'm really intrigued by what kind of offense that will lead to.

ROFL

GB runs a WCO SPREAD!!!! You can run a spread, WCO. While the WCO has some staples typically in a power run game and a short, horizontal passing philosophy, a WCO is called differentiated primarily now due to the terminology.

Bob Dole got as far as "Jimmy Raye", burst in to a fit of debilitating laughter, then recovered and drank an entire magnum of champagne.

Here's Holmgren's old PB. You'll notice the extensive use of color designations, an aspect that isn't a part of EP offenses, AirRaid, and Coryell philosophies (pretty sure about Coryell, not too familiar with that terminology). http://www.scribd.com/doc/2945133/19...fense-Holmgren

My guess is he'd implement whatever offense fits the team he's going to coach. I'm sure a lot of coaches would love to run Washington's offense, but that's not going to work with Phillip Rivers or Carson Palmer.

who cares

Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod. That would be [valley girl accent] AWE-SOME! [/valley girl accent]

Seriously, do owners and execs ever watch the games? Jimmy Raye? Who is sitting in the room discussing replacements and settles on Jimmy Raye? It's staggering that in a billion-dollar business, no one pays any attention to one of the most visible jobs in the whole organization.

Uh, guys.... it's Jimmy Raye's kid, and he's going to be the GM, not the coach.

JR3 has a solid track record in the draft. Our drafts started going downhill when AJ started getting cocky and stopped listening to him.

Pretty sure that all these moves are just the Chargers gearing up for a move to the B1G.

It's inevitable.

I was hoping Norv would last another 10 or 20 years in San Diego.

Maybe Oakland will give him a call after he gets canned.

Did you read the article? Gruden has been studying high school and college offenses, primarily the Oregon offense which is a spread option. He spent a week with Kelly doing a deep dive on the scheme and almost agreed to even coordinate the Oregon offense, an offense that I can guarantee you would not use Gruden's WCO terminology. He spoke about how the game is changing and seems to understand that this is becoming an increasingly QB driven league.

Unlike a lot of NFL coaches, Gruden had time to study up on a different offensive approach and many speculate that he was really trying to learn a more college-oriented offense in an effort to coach at the NCAA level. Maybe he still plans to.

Again, I don't think anybody can guarantee what offense he's going to run. He sounds very intrigued by a more college style spread option offense and wouldn't be surprised if he borrowed not just lightly but heavily from a college-oriented scheme.

Don't destroy our fun.

Any chance at all that they would hire the incompetent Jimmy Raye as coach? I would think that the kid would have to do it if his dad told him to.

Pro Football Weekly ‏@ProFootballWkly
Updated story on report of Norv Turner, A.J. Smith set to be fired, with statement from #Chargers - http://bit.ly/TNhZ7L
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We absolutely must replace our dipshits this offseason.

We cannot let the Chargers get the upper hand.

Bye. Good luck to the next message board that can handle your menstruating.

The Chargers are not one of those organizations.

Nepotism may destroy the Chargers. Let's hope so.

I'm shocked (no pun intended)!

http://gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs/787361_o.gif

The unspoken part of this is that Rivers just doesn't look right. Maybe a coaching change will magically fix it, but he's not putting great zip on his passes. I actually joked last weekend that he kind of looks like Gannon out there... so maybe Gruden should be the guy.

Either way, you're going probably have a hard time convincing coaches to come live in Kansas City over San Diego.

Rivers doesn't look right because their receivers are dog shit and so is their OL.

He'll be fine with some talent around him.

It'll be sad to see Craterface go. It was a yearly guarantee that my Patriots would have one less obstacle to the Super Bowl. The Chargers have spent the past decade looking like Tarzan in the regular seasons and playing like Jane in the playoffs.

Well, DUH!

Don't know, SD is a city that can't even sell out when they're playing well. Don't know if coaches really want to go to a city that doesn't give two shits about football.

Lucky bastards. I have a sinking feeling Pioli is going to survive and I'm gonna spend Sundays doing something else.

I think the old man was. Not too impressed with him back in the day.

It'll be sad to see Brady eventually retire. The greatest lottery ticket in the history of the NFL will have expired, and all of the Belichecking in the world won't keep the ship afloat.

It'll be great to see Belicheat and Brady finally leave the NFL, just so the most obnoxious bandwagon in football can finally shut up for good.

I'm sorry GC, I had to make a minor correction ^^^^

ROFL That's what Pats fans will be saying to the rest of the NFL, with that same sour expression on their faces, when they return to the Land of Obscurity.

Which in my estimation should be about 4 to 5 seasons from now, yes.

While I'm not a Pats fan, I do love watching Tom play. That guy has literally busted his ass every day.

Some classic LJ for you:

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...ots/LJNIKE.jpg

We need to shoop LJ into the pick with the running girl + Inmem. ROFL

And the crowd at Patsies games will look like this:

http://www.gold-line.com/gilette_72.jpg

Hey look! I found my old pic from the "Draw like Penz" post-Cleveland game from 2009:

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...ts/GAMEDAY.jpg