Tomlinson thinks Norv Turner, A.J. Smith have failed Philip Rivers

Posted by Michael David Smith on October 31, 2012, 6:49 PM EDT

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Former Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson sees San Diego struggling this season, but he doesn’t think quarterbackPhilip Rivers deserves the blame.
Instead, Tomlinson said on NFL Network’sAround the League Live, it’s General Manager A.J. Smith and head coach Norv Turner who have failed to build a complete team that Rivers can lead to a title. Asked if Rivers has enough talent around him, Tomlinson answered, “I don’t believe he does,” and Tomlinson noted that the Chargers let offensive playmakers like Vincent Jackson and Darren Sproles get away.
“When you look at the people they have lost over the years and Philip Rivers’ numbers have gone down because of the guys he has lost,” Tomlinson said. “You talk about a guy like Vincent Jackson, who has picked up where he left off in San Diego now in Tampa Bay leading that team in receptions. You talk about Darren Sproles who is doing a phenomenal job in New Orleans right now. Some of the offensive line that you don’t have any more – he has lost a lot of talent around him. I said it last year, there is too much pressure on Philip Rivers. He needs guys around him to help him win games.”
Tomlinson said he believes that if the Chargers miss the playoffs, Turner and Smith will be out of work.
“We heard the rumblings out of San Diego last year when they had the poor season [and] didn’t make the playoffs for the second straight year,” Tomlinson said. “At that point, Dean Spanos really thought about making a change, but he didn’t. He said he would give them one more chance to try to right the ship. So here we are at the point where the San Diego Chargers are in danger of missing the playoffs for the third straight year. At that point, the way this organization has worked, you fired Marty [Schottenheimer] after a 14-2 year. [After] many successful years in San Diego, you fire a coach like Marty Schottenheimer. How can you justify keeping A.J. Smith and Norv Turner when you don’t go to the playoffs three straight years?”
That’s a good question. And the likely answer, if the Chargers don’t turn it around, is that Spanos can’t justify keeping Smith and Turner.

Can't see a single thing he said that is incorrect

Dan Patrick asked LT about Norv on his show earlier today. LT stated BOTH Norv and AJ should be gone if they don't turn it around this season...he defend Rivers as stated above. I agreed with his statements and felt he was spot on.

He was spot on with his comments when he left also. The direction that Norv took this team and the change in the blocking schemes on the line, have steadily created more and more issues

Absolutely correct LT. I think the biggest problem has been the errosion of the Offensive line. Olivea, Goff, Dielman McNiel and the only person thats left is Nick Hardwick. I'd hate to bring this up, but would you rather have drafted DeCastro over Ingram? I love Ingram though

it's not really the blocking scheme, but rather the play design in general and the lack of line talent to execute the blocking required for these plays.

It all came crashing down the day after Marty was fired and the team took a new direction. I'm sure LT saw the writing on the wall even then.

Wonder will AJ come out with a smart *** reply via Acee. LT is being paid to have opinions now, so he is entitled to them. I pretty much agree with what he has had to say too. I still say both should be let go starting friday.

Bisaccia can handle HC duties, Hunter or Fairchild can call plays, heck even Philip might be able to. McGuire and Raye can handle GM type biz.

The search for full time GM and HC should start friday morning.

It all came crashing down when they announced Norv as Martys replacement. I can still remember myself falling off the chair when I heard that.

Marty was not the longterm answer, a change was necessary............. but Norv!!?. F me.

There were line issues years ago before the talent fell off. The line has never been the same, especially with run blocking, since Norv was hired

100% agree. Marty needed to be replaced and upgraded, but unfortunately we downgraded from him and ended up giving Norv longer to fail than we gave Marty. 5 years of Norv should have been enough and he should have been gone after last year, but Dean has no balls

They had issues with run blocking, but they never had a complete inability to run block until Vazquez took over at RG, and the pass blocking didn't become a complete disaster until McNeil's holdout began, and we then lost McNeil, Dielman, and Hardwick in a single season.

Do you not follow what is said? I said that LT was right with his comments about the blocking scheme, which stated that the team moved from a run blocking team to a pass blocking team, that is what my comment was referring to. The lack of a run game due to the blocking scheme has been the cause of a lot of our issues. I didn't say they were a reason for the pass blocking issues, I said they were part of the problem as a whole

Ray Charles can see what the hell is going on. Who cares about Tomlinsons opinion.

unfortunately we all know whats going to happen

*Ding Dong*

Dean "Uhhh hey Norv what brings you here on Christmas morning"

Norv " Oh hey Dean before you fired me I was planning on having my wife bake you an apple pie, me being the predictable simple minded man that I am who can't make second half adjustments, Would still like if you would accept this gift to show no hard feelings.

Dean " well Thank you Norv I appreciate that"

Norv "Well good day to you then, and Merry Christmas Dean"

Dean "Hey Norv?!?!................................what do you say I give you another year? maybe you can prove me wrong?"

Norv "Really??? No foolin'!!!!"

Rivers "God bless us everyone"

Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder both

Most of it had to do with the WTF draft picks. AJ avoided any player that had name recognition. If one of these players developed then they could not/would not be re-signed. Never once did this team "overpay" for a player (except Clary). The list is long of the FA's that have left SD and had success.

Castillo......

Oh, well, Tomlinson said this. Now I've completely changed my mind and Norv and AJ need to go.

Wiley, Boston, Tucker (Jyles in case anybody is saying, who?), Meachem (or is jury still out?), Kaeding.........

I will rephrase... Never once did the Chargers pay more to keep a player that was an impact player.

Wiley signed 2 years before AJ was the GM. Boston happend his "Rookie" year, so I have no issue giving that one a pass, especially after the 2004 and 2005 off seasons where he was fenominal. I did forget about Tucker though

I'm pretty sure Boston was a Butler signing.

Weren't many people complaining about Sproles' first tag being too much for him?

Only to later watch him walk and complain that we didn't pay to keep him?

Or do tags not count?

Boston was singed Mar 2003, Butler died April 2003, so you are right.

Sproles was a unique circumstance. Not a "starter" but a producer. His production fell off at the end in the KR game. I hated watching him return kicks. Kind of like Goodman. I think Norv could have utilized him better in the run/passing game. His scheme got predictable in the end.

I think people thought he was done so there was no crying when he left. Once he got to NO and started producing again people changed their tune.

Why do many (not all) leave SD and flourish?

My timing was off, then. I was thinking AJ took over in 2004 for some reason.

Being so close to Butler's death I'm sure AJ had a lot of input in the deal.

We would have had the talent to replace the players who left if we hadn't burned so many picks moving up annually. It wasn't just the poor use of the picks, it was mortgaging the future for the present and blowing the present.

It was a gamble, that failed.

I don't mind the mere concept of trading up because sometimes it's worth it (Weddle comes to mind, Mathews would be worth it if he were to remain healthy and knew how to hold on to the ball)

But, I do agree that he's done it too much. And when it fails it sucks more than your typical draft failure because you gave up more for it.