Chargers Keep Turner And Smith Despite Dismal Seasons

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published January 4, 2012 at 3:05 AM PST

This story was published more than 12 years ago.

Chargers Keep Turner And Smith Despite Dismal Seasons

San Diego Chargers head coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith aren't going anywhere. Chargers President Dean Spanos has decided to keep both. And not all the fans are happy about it.

The general manager and head coach kept their jobs despite the team missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

Dean Spanos made the decision two days after the Chargers finished 8-8 by beating Oakland and keeping the Raiders out of the playoffs. North County Times sports columnist Jay Paris said Spanos' decision to keep both Turner and Smith surprised nearly everyone.

"Deano (Spanos) saw the support he had from the key players, he felt continuity was the best way to go," said Paris. "And fans will say 'look, we've had one playoff win in four seasons with these two guys why should we expect anything different?' That will be determined next season."

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General Manager A.J. Smith has come under fire for the erosion of talent from a roster which at one time was considered among the NFL's best.

"The past two years the Chargers have been dead-flat average and they're really kind of a second-tier team in a third tier division," said Paris. "The AFC West is one of the worst divisions in the National Football League. And if you can't even advance from there to get to the playoffs, to get to that chance to try to bring that elusive first world championship, NFL-wise, to San Diego, that really makes you scratch your head."

Team President Spanos said Smith is the best person to improve the team and along with head coach Turner, gives the Chargers the best chance to get back to the playoffs.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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