San Diego Stuper Chargers? If Norv Turner and A.J. Smith should have been fired

If I told any average Charger fan if the Chargers were not able to go to the playoff and and made strides to a Super Bowl, if Head Coach Norvell Turner would be fired, many fans would have said yes....

Well, in an unprecedented event, the Chargers have decided to keep the jobs of both guys who...

Will not win the Super Bowl

Will not win a playoff game

Did not make playoffs

Did not even win the AFC West which was won by Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos at 8-8.

Instead they extend their non loosing streak since 2004 but have not made any segway to win a Super Bowl and yet these guys keep their jobs missing the playoffs form a second conscutive year when once again they have good stats on offense and defense?

This question goes further than just this year so I plan to explain where are at, from the beginning....grading the performances of both AJ Smith and Norv Turner.

When GM John Butler passed away in 2003, AJ Smith was named the General manager of the San Diego Chargers.

The Move: His first move as GM before another mediocre season for the Chargers was to trade name-stay Junior Seau for a draft pick in 2004. Seau was not the player he used to be and would be picked as a Pro Bowl player for the last time for the chargers in 2003.

The GM Grade: C (didnt really have time to do any thing in this season so disregard

For the draft in 2004 AJ Smith also made a genius move, and while Eli Manning did not want to play in San Diego, (and who would blame him, they stunk) AJ Smith decided to trade his rights for the rights of Philip Rivers, the draft pick rights to Shawne Merriman (in 2005) who was a lights out player for a couple of years, and Nate Kaeding who was a lights out kicker . He would also draft future Pro Bowl Center Nick Hardwick as well as Michael Turner who would be a solid backup running back for LT for a significant period.

AJ Smith probably made the best free agent pick up getting the unrestricted and undrafted free agent, and future Hall of Famer in Antonio Gates, who had his career high 13 TDs. Drew Brees was the quarterback and Marty Schotenheimer was the head coach and LaDannian Tomlinson, in the middle of a Hall-of Fame career of his own. And the team finished 12-4 losing their first playoff game vs the New York Jets.

The GM Grade: A- (got guys who will affect his football team for a long time)

The Chargers had another strong draft, drafting impact guys like former Pro Bowler linebacker Shawne Merriman, explosive kickoff returner Darren Sproles and solid Defensive End Luis Castillo as well as wide reciever Vincent Jackson, improving talentwise, but while the Chargers had ups and downs, they finished with a 9-7 record and missed the playoffs and Drew Brees suffered a dislocated shoulder.

The GM Grade: B (another strong draft for the Chargers)

AJ Smith continues to work his magic in the draft, taking the athletic, risk taking Pro Bowl cornerback Antonio Cromartie. Pro Bowl Left Tackle Marcus McNeil and current starting right guard Jerome Clary.

After releasing Drew Brees and starting their 2004 #1 draft pick Philip Rivers, the Chargers had their best season and while Philip Rivers had a pedestrian season, LaDannian Tomlinson had anything but, breaking the touchdown record. That did not matter however, as the 14-2 Chargers lost to the Patriots and Coach Marty Schottenheimer was promptly fired mainly because the two didnt get along

GM Grade: B- (a solid draft but the decision to get rid of Drew Brees without compensation and Marty Schottenheimer is controversial even to this day.)

Now we can start grading the coaching of Norv Turner as well as the GM because it Smith picks the former Offensive Coordinator to become the head coach of the San Diego Chargers. It is also now that the drafting starts to tail off for the GM. While he does draft future pro bowl safety Eric Weddle, he also drafts in the first round (Craig Davis) who is not on the team anymore.

During the season, the Chargers begin to start a trend that will last until last year, when they start really slow and start building momentum and while the Chargers started 1-3, they end up being 11-5 and beat the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts losing and injuring key players along the way to not have enough power to defeat the then undefeated New England Patriots.

Coach Grade: A- A very good season after a poor start and you cant blame a coach for injuries.

GM Grade: C+(Eric Weddle was the only reason this was not a failing grade, he did not do anything else to the roster to improve it)

The Chargers drafted a couple of guys who are still on the team but are not the biggest impact guys on the team in current starting cornerback, Antoine Cason and starting fullback Jacob Hester. They also release Michael turner who has been really good for the Atlanta Falcons since they let him go. The Chargers also started slow again, except they continued to be slow and were 4-8 until they won four straight and stole the AFC West crown. They beat Indianapolis again in the playoffs before losing to the Steelers in the semi-finals.

Coach Grade: C+ Poor showing of this talented team to ever have a 4-8 record in the first place

GM Grade: C solid couple of picks but does not add any significant amount of talent on this team

The Chargers had their worst showing in the draft, picking an injury prone and inconsistant Larry English and the only player who the Chargers got of value was a solid guard in Louis Vasquez. The Chargers once again started of slow with a 2-3 start, but the Chargers won 11 straight games and won a bye Week through the arm of Phillip Rivers and the receiving of Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Malcolm Floyd. And when they were at their hoottest...they lose to the Jets in the first playoff game.

In many way this was the first time fans were calling for Norv Turner's and AJ Smiths head, epecially since marty Schottenheimer was fired for have a good record and losing in their first playoff game and that AJ Smith was watching as former Charger Quarterback Drew Brees won a Super Bowl.

Coach Grade: B (Despite Norv's slow start, he won games, but at this point it was all about the playoffs)

GM Grade:D+ (he did nada squat in the Draft and the brain trust of the Chargers is losing ground)

After cutting the former face of the franchise LaDanian Tomlinson they needed a running back and they drafted him with Fresno State's Ryan Matthews. They also got rid of the inconsistent Antonio Cromartie to the Jets. Once again the Chargers started slowly, but this time they lost to horrible teams in the Chiefs, Raiders, Rams and Seahawks) once again, the chargers bouced back but this time they actually had December loses for the first time in 2005 and did not make the playoffs. What was the most ironic thing about this season was that they were number 1 in both offense and defense but were killed by turnovers and more special teams play. Clearly a disapointing season and some experts though that Norv Turner would be fired here.

Coach Grade: D+ (you cant be 9-7 with this talent, he was in the red zone in my eyes here)

GM Grade: D+ (you cant win if you dont revamp talent, poor job by AJ Smith especially when it came down to the contracts of Vincent Jackson)

This was an interesting year since you could see the pressure from the Chargers to win as AJ Smith did something very rare, which is to address problems through free agency. Even before the draft, they picked up Pro Bowler Bob Sanders, they drafted NFL ready Corey Liuget to shore up the front line and they got Takeo Spikes from free agency as well. And the Chargers even started well, going 4-1, However, the Chargers lost six straight, and while they had an opportunity to win at the end, they lost another December game, this time to the Detroit Lions to eliminate them from playoff contention

Coach Grade: D (topped last years debacle with an even bigger one.and the lack of discipline with the team over the last couple of years reflects poorly on his coach)

GM Grade: C+ (He at least tried in free agency but Sanders got hurt easily and the draft was about as weak as the last five

AJ Smith has a lot of respect for being a hardlined general manager and operated only working through the draft and stealing talent and it produced getting starts starting with Rivers and trickling down to Pro Bowlers Michael Turner(with falcons), Shawn Philips, Nick Harwick, Vincent Jackson, Shawne Merriman, Marcus McNeil, Antonio Cromartie, Nate Kaeding plus solid players in Darren Sproles and got unrestricted free agents in Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd. But in the last five years, AJ Smith has not done well, ironically it may have started with firing Marty Schottenheimer and replacing him with Norv Turner who has done worse as the years went on as far as the playoffs are concerned.

So I really don't know why they are keeping these men, maybe its because the offense finished 6^th in offense this year, maybe because there have been significant injuries this year to the offensive line, defense, wide receivers, running backs and even Nate Kaeding on the first play of the year. But this regime has disappointed at least three time and while consistency is good, insanity(doing the same thing over and over expecting to get a different result) is not.

They should be gone, and at this rate, expect a losing season from the San Diego Chargers from here on out.