The San Diego Chargers Just Got Relevant Again…

The Silver Fox does it again! Kevin Acee blew up the sports media world on a national level yesterday afternoon… and I loved it. He reported in the U-T that both Norval and AJ Smith will be fired at the end of the season. Here’s the meat of it.

It will be finished.

Not only will head coach Norv Turner be gone at the end of the season, but general manager A.J. Smith will be fired as well, as the Chargers make a monumental break from an era that was arguably the most successful and most disappointing in team history.

Sources said this week that Chargers President Dean Spanos essentially decided at least a month ago that Turner’s time was drawing to a rapid close. Spanos, sources said, has more recently resigned himself to the fact that Smith can’t be kept in the current environment of plummeting performance and fan unrest.

And unlike last year, when Spanos found enough reason for clemency in a strong finish and past accomplishments, those with knowledge of plans that are already in motion said it seems certain there will be no last-minute change of heart this time.

Spanos is waiting until after the season, more because that is his preferred time to make such moves than due to any faith in the Chargers’ microscopic playoff chances. Spanos also believes Turner is the only person qualified to call the offensive plays.

Turner and Smith both said they have not been informed of their employment status.

It’s just fantastic. Immediately upon release, I knew that Acee was forcing the Chargers hand. They would have to respond… and respond they did.

Regarding recent reports about the status of General Manager A.J. Smith and Head Coach Norv Turner:

“There is only one person in this organization who will make those decisions and that’s me, and I haven’t shared my thoughts with anyone.  I will make my evaluations at the end of the season.  Anything coming out now – from sources or otherwise – is pure speculation.”

Ha! Lies! I had a few thoughts about the subject matter on twitter…

I had another tweet that Acee responded to, here’s a screengrab:

Correct… he didn’t technically deny that he was going to fire them, but he did say Acee was speculating…which I believe is a lie. There are many out there saying that Acee is just using an educated guess like all Chargers fans everywhere. Those people are idiots. Acee’s already been down the road of reporting firings only to have Spanos change his mind… he’s not gonna do that again. He’s going to report the truth, and I look forward to everybody saying Acee is speculating, and buying into Spanos’ statement of flaming crap, eating crow once this all comes to fruition.

Here’s Acee on the phone with the NFL Network and their coverage of the article.

Lastly, huge shout-out to the U-T for paying homage to Boyz II Men with their headline.

-bp

[thanks to @sportsbrain for the U-T photo and @UTKevinAcee for writing it]

This entry was posted in Football, NFL and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.