Chargers Insider: McCoy off to enchanted start By Kevin Acee - 10:48 A.M. - JAN. 26, 2013 Not much to report by way of wins and losses on this January day. But, oh, we can definitely say the Mike McCoy era has had a fairy tale beginning. You ascend the curved staircase and walk through the double doors on the second floor at Chargers Park, and there it is. It is not something you sense as much as something that overwhelms your senses. It’s as vivid as sunbeams shining through an enchanted forest. Hope has made the air lighter. Change has cut through the tension that had settled into so many conversations the past year or so. A simple freshness has turned seemingly every frown upside down. You can fairly imagine the vines of thorn and thistle having given way to green grass ringed by poppies and morning glories. So astonishing is this new vibe that it wouldn’t seem odd to pass seven little men whistling on their way to work as birds chirped and the delightful voice of a young woman floated along the breeze. (It cannot be ruled out that I was coming down with a cold upon arrival and was infected no more by the time I departed. Really, I feel great.) There is no way to know – especially given the need for a remodeling of the offensive line, among other personnel issues – whether all this bliss portends a happy ending. But, goodness, has the feel around this organization been transformed in just more than two weeks. Heck, even Jared Gaither has a “clean slate,” according to McCoy. (Now, if Dean Spanos lets the left tackle virtually everyone suspects of fraud back in the building then there really has been a tectonic plate kind of shift in the thinking.) As much as new general manager Tom Telesco’s arrival has given the front office a friendlier feel, the man whose presence has given the entire place a makeover is new head coach Mike McCoy. He walks the halls managing to portray a youthful exuberance as well as a learned wisdom. His voice booms, but gently. His words convey inclusion and unity. He’s a can-do commando. The things employees -- from the sales staff to the coaching staff -- are saying privately indicate shock at the transformation but an embracing of it. They're using words like "amazing" and "exciting" to describe McCoy. “The culture is going to change,” McCoy said on Friday. “… It’s not just the coaches and players. It’s the entire organization. Change has happened. Accept it and move on. Everyone from the Spanoses on down, everyone has an important role ... It’s a people business. Good things happen to good people. You surround yourself with good people and make everyone understand you care about them and we’re doing this together.” I predict the Chargers players will either be fired up to beat the Denver Broncos or fully equipped to sell timeshares. Norv Turner was liked by virtually everyone inside Chargers HQ, sort of like the uncle who is unmistakably brilliant yet can’t quite strike it rich no matter how hard he schemes. McCoy is already revered, like the handsome cousin who arrived in a convertible, hopped out without opening the door and is so cool he can pull off wearing a sweater vest – all without being an insufferable jerk. His work has hardly begun. Really, all he’s done tangibly is fire and hire coaches. (All that remain are two offensive assistants and four on defense, among the 18 coaches that were on Norv Turner’s staff last season.) McCoy’s staff is now complete and will assemble at Chargers Park whole for the first time on Monday to start evaluating the roster and assessing the task ahead. We’ve got a long way to go to see what results come of all this change. But for now, it feels good to breathe in the believing.
Clean slate or not the guy is unreliable. It would be incredible if McCoy can change him, but we won't know that until September when we've already taken a LT with our first round pick...or haven't.
Doesn't change the fact that OT is still a a top need. I know most people don't want to hear this, but I think Tyronne Green got an unfair amount of criticism. Look who his LT was. Gaither was in and out, and out most of camp. Then it changed to two undrafted tackles in Mike Harris and Kevin Haslam, back to Mike Harris. Don't get me started on Clary either. Either way, OT is my top need in this draft. Both Gaither and Clary are unreliable. I think we're just ****** when it comes to Gaither. We're gonna take a good sized cap hit if cut, which we can't afford at this point. Thanks AJ!
McCoy has nothing to gain by lambasting Gaither, and potentially quite a bit to gain by getting him to play hard for him. As far as for sure drafting our LTotF in April, since we won 3/4 to close out, we're drafting what falls to us at 11 instead of taking our pick of top options at 6 unless we blow our 2nd to move up and grab someone, which would almost certainly be overpaying. If this was the Smitty regime, it'd probably be guaranteed that he was cut, but at least in year one, there might be some lemonade being made from lemons.
If you are operating from the position that everyone is starting fresh, you can't exclude anyone. That being said, this doesn't preclude McCoy from taking one look at Gaither in practice and cutting his azz.
Of course Gaither was given a clean slate its the off season, just wait until the preseason when he has to start earning his check again.
We don't owe this turd any type of signing bonus for this year do we? If not then I don't see how it could hurt bringing him to camp... we can always use one more tackling dummy and who knows maybe Gaither gets his head outta his *** and nuts up to play football. But its a big gamble.
Something smells wrong here: Either Acee mislead us when he implied that the Chargers were so furious at Gaither that they were about to drag him behind the dumpster and beat the crap out of him... or McCoy is the most clueless guy in the room (since Manti's in a different room) and can not read an obviously toxic, unfixable (Gaither) situation. Doesn't add up.
I believe he said that just to say it, Im probably sure he has an idea or has been informed of the situation. I doubt he's going to flat out say "this dude is as good as gone", we'll see what happens when it happens and hopefully get an idea of what direction they're planning on going. Remember when Acee said the organization has grown tired of Gaither I'm sure he was referring to Dean and company because at that point it was pretty much set in stone that AJ and Norv were gone. The thing I don't understand is What exactly does "real money" mean?
I think it would be very hard for Gaither to get away pulling the same stunt as last year. HC's and position coaches should be able to line up against this guy, not to mention past pissed off players. It would be nice if the Bolt's could somehow lose this guy and the money owed to him but I don't see that happening.
Better to be mislead by McCoy, than Acee. Seriously, though: If you're right that McCoy grasps the situation, but doesn't want to start off by saying something like "this dude is as good as gone," wouldn't it be far smarter to say something like "I just got here, I'll need to look at that" or anything else noncommittal? "Clean slate" implies a better Gaither situation than 95% of fans are feeling...
I 100% agree and like I said Im just assuming that's what he meant. I just feel he wants to meet his players and get a feel for them before he judges based off what he may have heard or read
Or........ it's a message to ALL the players that they have a "clean slate" with the new regime. They will all be given a fresh chance to prove themselves (Gaither is given as the extreme example). Surely, even a guy as thick as Gaither knows that if he flames out here, no other team will ever offer him real money to play football again. Either he wants to be a football player, or he doesn't..... it's all up to him.
Gaither can't get away with playing the injury card again, just has to be to much evidence to the contrary. Merriman was a different story all together and let his injury slide and screwed the team. We'll see just what kind of HC this McCoy is going to be real soon, and if he can salvage Gaither for a year to buy some time more power to him.
I'll bet you that was a general statement said about the entire team but once McCoy, Whisenhunt & others get their fill of information on Gaither from the veterans, that statement will be revised. Having said that there's the possibility that he meant what he said, and he wants to try and make something out of an expensive nothing
You would have to think that they put a clause in his contract having to do with this type of thing like they did with McNeil's contract (The reported Guarantee was like 25mil, but only about 8-10 of it was actually guaranteed). They would've had to put a clause in that contract with Gaither's injury condition. So i'm sure he's far less expensive if we choose to cut him after a year where he didn't play the whole year.
UTKevinAcee @UTKevinAcee @Lando33 Virtually everyone believes he defrauded the Chargers. I will be shocked beyond belief if he is back.
Clean slate or not, this should not affect what we should do in the draft, we need a Tackle in the first round for insurance when Gaither decides to have back spasms
I think we still draft an OT at 11, whether its Joeckel, Fisher or Johnson. That being said, there gonna give Gaither another year I believe. And if he tries to play this injury card, you better believe the Chargers will be prepared with some evidence to file something against him.
Agree with the first part. I don't know that I agree with the 2nd. If we don't cut Gaither this year and he fails again, we're just going to push that cap hit off into 2014 and owe him $6+ mil all over again. IMHO I think he has to take a pay cut to save face and get a chance to save his career...or just get released and likely never play in the NFL again. I think he chooses the ladder.
I don't know. He's guaranteed $13M anyways. Might as well pay him for this year, and if he plays the injury card again, there has to be some kind of evidence that medical staff can put together to sue this dude. Jared Gaither is identical to JaMarcus Russell. He's gonna be a "lazy slob" and a "thief" as my man Stephen A. said once, get his paycheck, fake an injury, get cut and then come out and say a few years later he wants to play in the NFL again.
Might as well get your money's worth out of him. I'd try all the newest rehab techniques on him every day for as long as the rest of the team is working and make it mandatory. Electrical stimulus, acupuncture, hot and cold shock treatment, inverted hanging and stretching machines of various types. Hell, they could even make up a few but if he's going to get the cash regardless, I'd make him earn it one way or another.
OK, Gaither's a turd. But let's not go with the revisionist history. Most people wanted Gaither re-signed, and were happy when he was. We needed the guy we had the second half of 2011, we signed that guy, but that guy didn't show up.
He won't be the last guy to only show up during a contract season...... especially, when he only needed to impress for 5 games. Not too much of a sacrifice for Gaither.
Absolutely. I was merely talking about the revisionist history that A.J. was an as*hole for signing him. It's what everyone wanted, it was what needed to be done. It turned out badly.
It was a thin year for FA LT's........ Gaither was actually the best available option. What I do blame AJ for is not providing for proper depth behind Gaither, knowing his history with real (or faked) injuries. Dombrowski (despite his injury) was never a viable backup. Henderson was a "song and a prayer" signing. To think we had to rely on a UDFA to be our starting LT, shows how poor the line depth was. Not using anything but late round picks on the O-line is not a way to build quality depth.
Um...do we need to review last season? Gaither got hurt during the first weight training session with an ailment no one on the planet could diagnose and that was sufficient reason for him to not play for much of the beginning of the season. Sure, try and get your money's worth, but this guy has pulled the same crap at the other two places before the Chargers. The Chargers were foolish enough to believe that because Gaither played 5 games with the team that he was committed to playing football...something he had never shown before and since...and are literally the suckers. But the cold hard truth is, this guy needs to be let go and the sooner the better. Keeping a lazy sponge around will just show the other lazy sponges where there is a nice place to sign...San Diego...and the team won't be any better or the wiser...
I think it would be stupid for McCoy to say anything other than he has a clean slate. He has to build faith and confidence in the locker room. Statements such as this go a long way towards achieving that. If he cam in guns a blazing he might alienate some of the players.
A la Josh McDaniels. Although that one eventually worked out... kinda. But yeah. The guy is wise to say "sure... come on back! We want ya'!" If Gaither responds for a while we're buying some time. But in all likelihood that lazy SOB is gonna fade away.
