BOLT ANALYSIS: THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING

Here we are, folks, on the cusp of the playoffs...for the third straight year on the outside looking in. I held off for a few days to write this final post for the 2012 season on the off-chance that the Chargers would announce some quick hire to fill their gaping holes at the top. Not yet. The rumor mill is swirling, although all of it to date has really been focused on the General Manager/Personnel position. The Monday after the season ended was quite a bloodbath for NFL coaches...7 firings. This, along with a handful of GMs, makes about ¼ of the League in serious transition. The Bolts are one of these teams. As expected, Spanos fired AJ Smith and Norv Turner on Monday, at the conclusion of a 7-9 season. Thus ends one of the most hopeful, and ultimately most frustrating, periods in Charger history. The ANALYSIS always takes a look back in order to better analyze the future. Previous epic posts have included in-depth missives on Charger playoff history and Draft history. I will not re-release those Dickensian posts...they stand strong on their own as snapshots in time. But, I will take a minute to discuss the Norv Turner era; I hope you will come along.

2007 – AJ had fired Marty Schottenheimer after losing offensive and defensive coordinators to head coaching jobs. The hiring of Norv was widely met with a “huh?”, but common sentiment was that Koko the Monkey could have coached that particular Charger team to the Promised Land. It almost happened in that first year. After an unbalanced start, and a 5-5 record, with LT claiming he was “lost” in the new offense, the team caught fire. They won their last 6 games and then beat Tennessee and Indianapolis on their way to a Championship Showdown against the undefeated Patriots. Problem was, Rivers had ripped a ligament, Gates had a busted foot, and LT had a phantom injury that pulled him out of play. The Boyz lost 21-12.

2008 – The loss of Shawne Merriman to a big injury (and Steroids let’s not forget) and uninspired play brought the team to a 4-8 record. However, they played in the Mild Mild West and they won their last 4 games to beat the Broncos and win the division, masking their poor play. However, they rallied again in the playoffs, beating Indianapolis and taking a halftime lead against the mighty Steelers...before succumbing in the cold. Again, with LT suffering a phantom injury.

2009 – The real headscratcher of a year. A team that seemed only decent on paper was a powerhouse. Finishing 13-3, with all the momentum in the world. Rivers had really arrived, playing incredibly all year long. Yet, the first round of the playoffs featured a hyped up Jets team, four Nate Kaeding missed field goals, a Cromartie give-up on a sure tackle, and a loss to the Jets. The headhunting for Norv had begun.

2010 – The team begins to be taken apart by AJ Smith. Turner, LT, are gone. Long term standoffs and fights with key players begin. Mathews is brought in...yet it is Sproles that still shines. The defense is soft...worst in the League at getting people off the field. The team misses the playoffs by one game

2011 – The team loses some of the strangest, craziest games in recent memory. AJ’s drafts and offseason moves do not help. The Quarterback has his worst year as a pro. It begins to be clear that we are no longer “tweaking” the team. Big changes are needed. The team misses the playoffs by one game.

2012 – Almost a carbon copy of 2011, despite big changes in free agency for the first time in years. This year started solid and devolved into a series of mistakes and offensive failures. Despite improved defense and special teams, the Quarterback remains in mighty struggle-mode, the running back a huge failure, and the offensive line a disgrace. Almost all the veterans brought in by AJ are bombs. The team misses the playoffs.

In the final analysis, people have been calling for Norv’s head since he got here. I don’t blame him for the playoff defeat in 2007. For that, I blame the injuries they had to Rivers and Gates, and I blame LT for not stepping up and realizing the team needed him to lead. When I hear this year that ROOKIE running back Trent Richardson played nearly the entire year with broken ribs, and I know Philip Rivers played that 2007 game with no ligament, it still makes me angry to picture sullen LT, sitting on the bench in a blanket, not playing because he was not “100%” in a playoff game. Norv got them there....and he coached them to a close game against an undefeated team without his best players. I don’t blame Norv for 2008 or 2009 playoff losses either. The 2009 team was very solid...good enough to win. Although he was out-coached by Rex Ryan that year, the team still would have won had Nate hit one field goal out of 4. If you want to blame a coach for a playoff loss...blame Schottenheimer for losing in 2006. That was the best team we have ever had, and he muffed that game.

What I blame Norv for is just this: he never was able to inspire his players to be better than they themselves expected to be. Some coaches can get that out of players...Norv cannot. He coaches in a steady, methodical way, he treats his players as men, he expects them to be accountable, he expects the guys to all play their roles, and he expects his best players to be their best. The problem with this is...NFL players are rarely accountable, they don’t act as men, they don’t play their best when they need to all the time. This is when these teams (and players) need that coach that will find the button in them. Make them better...make them play harder. Norv does not or cannot foster that as a coach. That being said, if Norv had the on-field leadership that Mike Tomlin or Bill Belichick or Tom Coughlin have had...would he have a ring by now? Don’t laugh...I think it is very possible. Players buying in to someone on-field is huge. I think we have not had a defensive identity since Merriman left. Rivers was our identity for a while but he is struggling now. I blame that just as much as Norv.

So, then, it is AJ Smith’s fault? Well, I think more of the blame certainly falls to him. Playing contract games with Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeil, not re-signing Sproles and Mike Turner, letting ego cloud judgment on players like Mathews and Jared Gaither. AJ has let the air out of the balloon and he has failed. Just as he had built a really good team, he has now broken that team down. Kudos to Norv for saying at his farewell press conference that this team is not a playoff team, and fans should not expect that in the next few years. I am not defending Norv here...he is culpable too...but at least he is honest. He had nothing to work with the past two years, face it. This was not a playoff team.

I must now look back to something written in the ANALYSIS on January 7, 2010...three years ago.

To conclude, when someone asks you…what would you consider the Charger glory days? ....the answer must be…right now. These are them people, the Halcyon Days. We are living through them. Since the Super Bowl began, and in my lifetime, this is the longest, most sustained period of Charger success ever. The Fouts era that so many hold onto? It only led to 3 years of playoff teams. The Beathard Era with our lone Super Bowl appearance? It only led to 3 years of playoff teams. This current era has led to 5 years of playoff teams..including the current year. So, as we struggle and are critical of our boys, just remember that this is as good as Charger football has ever been. We need to enjoy it. Who knows what next season will bring? Or the one beyond that? Live in the moment, because as they say in Sports…there is no tomorrow.

Well, we are now at that tomorrow. That was written just before our crushing loss to the Jets after the 2009 season. We have not been back since. We now know what that next season (and the last three) have provided. Those “Halcyon Days?”......gone. That young and hopeful ANALYSIS....now a grizzled veteran.  So, what happens now? We are done with blaming people..the ANALYSIS must carry on, grizzled or otherwise.

For now, we will wait and wonder about our new coach and our new GM. Don’t get excited folks...it will not be a big name. Not a big NFL name...or even a big college name. Despite that, it may just be someone who can rebuild...and who can find that bit of inspiration. See, like I said, the 2012 ANALYSIS is all about HOPE.

Happy New Year!