Thats why Owners have GM's to help them make football decisions! Spanos signs the cheques...thats all. AJ makes the decisions.
C'mon, man. They both hated each other, I'm sure they both wanted the other gone. Neither had the authority to do it. Dean Spanos made the decision, not AJ.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/27/chargers-broncos-nick-canepas-report-card/ Canepa sums up Norv Turner nicely with this.... "Running backs: A Mathews had his best game. Why he was on the bench at the end of their final drive not even the head coach could say." That ladies and gentlemen, is not a competant head coach.
Half the owners in the NFl (at least) don't know enough about football to make the right decisions long-term. If they did make them on the own, then the NFL would be a disaster
If their Ego driven manics who don't like others taking their glory and having their first round gems being criticized they do.
AJ Smith could be the biggest egomaniac the world has ever seen, it still wouldn't give him authority over Dean Spanos.
AJ could have put his differences aside to work with marty if he wanted to...Marty said in an interview that dispite his differences with AJ he would still work with him..AJ forced Spanos to make a choice between them
I'll pretty much agree with the notion that AJ effectively hired Norval, but not the one that says he fired Marty. Marty and AJ clearly did not get along and I'm 110 percent positive both wanted the other gone, but neither had the authority to make it happen. While, generally speaking, an owner is going to trust his "football" personnel to make the "football" decisions, that was CLEARLY a case where the owner had to step in and make the decision...and he (DEAN SPANOS) decided his GM was more valuable than his head coach. Now, this is obviously all speculation on my part (as is everyone else's claim of what happened) but if I'm a betting man I'd be willing to bet it was NOT a case of AJ Smith walking into his boss's office and telling him to fire Marty and Dean, completely oblivious to the clash between the two, just said "ok" and did his bidding.
Marty could have put his differences aside to work with AJ if he wanted to... Of course Marty is going to say that when he's talking to the PUBLIC
Since when did Dean give AJ partial control? Norv interviewed with AJ and AJ then went to Dean for his blessing,
No, but with the Chargers (as Kevin Acee has said MANY times) AJ was full control. Dean has given AJ full control of all football operations
Nope, but the CEO of my company didn't hire me, my manager and director did. AJ hired Norv because he has been given full control by Dean to make such decisions
Well, it's about time somebody cleared this up for me. I've been asking if it was different from Marty's situation where AJ didn't have hiring/firing authority but everytime I asked people said it was the same.
AJ has the authority, but I bet when it comes down to Dean having to cut a check to pay off the final year or 2 of a contract, he does have to get the OK to fire someone. But for hiring, that is all AJ
When it comes to predictions of future coaches, my statement comparing Kaplan and Acee stands. When it comes to knowing the internal workings of the Team, no one knows more than Acee, after all he is in there kissing everyone's *** he can get his lips close to
Canepa's a waste of cellulite but every once in a while he makes a statement that actually makes sense (the sun shines on a dog's youknowwhat... we all know how it goes), but enough with my railing against Nick's bloated head (and the body it's attached to). He is right in this instance. Look, we all know we have a horde of coaches on this staff that just flat out must be working from watching different game tape. From our dunderheaded HC and his use of Mathews, defense of Clary, etc. to Manusky and his continued 2-and-3 man rushes, his continued play of LaTrash, his soft coverage schemes, and his subbing out of our best ILB instead of subbing out the guy who is too slow to play in coverage on obvious passing downs. Even to Bisaccia and his continued sending of Patrick "2 yards" Crayton on PR detail when we have proven better options on the roster in Cason, Gilchrist (though he wasn't active today), and I'd even make a case for Todman or Walters.
what is funny is that when the Bolts lost in the playoffs and they gave Norv and extension. I am sure that they were positive that the Chargers were going to win the game... opps!.. lol.... to quick Dean this is football with emotion 1 game is NOT worth $5+M for a HC..
^I think you can also add Brinkley to that list of possible kick returners. Now can we have Kaeding back?
The Special Teams is just straight awful.. I like Goodman as the KR.. but Crayton as the PR makes me want to pull my hair out..Then the coverage on Punts, every other teams gets to the PR before they can pick their nose.. we are so SLOW getting to the PR and it showed this week and last week against Chicago..The kicking game, don't blame Bisaccia for this one, Novak just can't hit FGs and doesn't kick the ball deep enough on kick offs..The Offense..RT needs to be an upgrade there.. I like Schilling though on the left side.. I know were missing 3 of our starters on the line (one on IR).. and 2 backups (one on IR).. but nobodies going to feel sorry for us.. we have to be prepared and compete..Mathews needs to be used like this more often.. I want more screens and receptions for him as well.. Tolbert is garbage receiving the ball.. hes a fullback.. DONT resign Hester (he can't catch either) and move Tolbert to FB..Todman needs to be activated and used more.. We don't really need Brinkley.. Todman can do what he does just as good if not better.. we need a solid number 2 running back.. there will be a handful out there in Free Agency this year.. I would go as far as re-signing LT.. we need a guy like him in the locker for the younger guys could be a great mentor for Mathews..Need to find Gates and Jackson more.. we need to get them open!The Defense.. I thought played well.. but just stupid decisions by Manusky..We need more pass rushers.. I hope we don't resign LaBoy.. and We sign Mario Williams or draft a top 10 OLB.. cause we need one.. BAD.. Needed Barnes in there more..Thomas, Garay, and Harris I really liked.. Martin needs to move to DT.. he's not quick enough..Butler played very good, Spikes wasn't bad.. Diggs sucks.. Oliver sucks as well..!! Jammer actually didn't play bad and neither did Cason.. but again it was Tebow throwing it..All in all.. POOR COACHING leads to another LOSSSSSSSSS! Norv + Manusky = OUT = PROBLEM SOLVED
Good notes and I agree, though not all of these are problems that can be resolved right out of the gate. We need to make up our minds whether we want to primarily use two-TE sets or sets involving a traditional FB more often, stick to it, and work our personnel accordingly. The way McNiell struggles with speed-rushers, I'm inclined towards the former, and use that second TE similar to how we used Manumaleuna if we need a "lead-blocker". There is no Top 10 OLB in next years class. There are guys who can be productive cogs, but unless Nick Perry declares (and even then he needs some work) there is no Ware/Merriman/Suggs/Orakpo prospect in the class. So the best we'd be able to potentially unearth is a Cameron Wake-at-best kind of guy. Obviously anything's an improvement over what we're currently boasting, I just think blowing our wad (especially if/when our wad turns out to be a Top 12 pick) on a guy with a limited ceiling when we have the opportunity to add a player at another position that does have an elite ceiling isn't a good thing (and really more of the same formula we've been currently following). Mario Williams will be franchise tagged, I'd bet my condo on it (Houston has no other major name hitting FA, he's the obvious choice). The lack of pass-rush can, in the interim or just in general, also be aided by a shift in scheme. I know everyone's on the Winston Moss/Dom Capers bandwagon, but you give me a choice of who I want to come in as a new DC I'm taking Mike Nolan 10 times out of 10. The guy adapts his scheme to work with the players that he has and to maximize what they do best. I know that a lot of people got down on Rivera because they said our #1 statistical defense wasn't really #1 and that our pass-rush was the product of smoke and mirrors, but you know what... the smoke and mirrors freakin' worked... it produced results. And it buys you time to add the kind of elite-ability talent to a roster to where you don't need the tricks as often (it's pretty much what Capers did in his first year in GB with the "psycho/monster" package, what Rob Ryan did in Cleveland with his "amoeba" defense, and how Nolan's been disguising a mediocre Miami secondary who is really only a Vontae Davis injury away from being well below average. Garay's going to come all down to contract. Fortunately he's not having a huge year for a contract year, but he plays a position that's in high demand regardless. With Thomas (though he needs to improve his anchor as he was getting driven off the line way too easily at times today), Martin, and Harris (assuming he's re-signed, but he's given us every reason to want to) all able to put in reps on the nose in different situations, we really don't use Garay as an every-down player to justify paying him a Top 5 positional contract (which he may well get an offer of from a team like Houston or Washington). Oliver's played better than Gregory has this year - because at least he can cover deep. Neither is starting potential but considering both are UFA's next year and we've seen nothing from Stuckey thus far to merit moving him up the depth chart, I'd at least try to get Oliver on a camp-friendly contract as a safety net. And if a guy like Dre Kirkpatrick falls to us in the 1st round, you draft him on value alone, and stick him at safety opposite Weddle from Day One. He can come down and cover slot receivers, he can play over the top as an enforcer, and he can blitz (and he loves to hit people). We (finally) solidify our safety corps and that does a lot for allowing us to commit linebackers to pass-rush more often, which in turn helps out our CB's substantially because they're asked to stick with their man for a much shorter period.
AJ pushed hard to sign Norv as the HC and preached the continuity would be the best thing for this team over a new coach like a Rex Ryan. He also pushed for Ted Cottrell to be our DC if you remember. Those are bad on AJ, big black marks. But Spanos owns the team and like any owner, he has final say in who gets hired/fired. It was Spanos' decision to fire Marty and keep AJ, and it was Spanos decision to let AJ pick his men in Turner and Cottrell. Those are huge screw ups on Spanos
This. As for our next HC, I want Jeff Fisher - he's available & experienced, he would instill some discipline and make our team both tough & feared, and since he hasn't won a Superbowl yet, he would definitely be driven towards that goal...
Fisher's fine. I wish I could say I trust AJ Smith, Dean Spanos, and the entire executive staff but then again Norv's on them.
