Chargers: Dean Spanos ends era of GM A.J. Smith, coach Norv Turner

Chargers owner Dean Spanos and now-former head coach Norv Turner in happier times. (US Presswire)

After a third straight season of not making the playoffs and with home games repeatedly blacked out due to lack of attendance, Chargers owner Dean Spanos fired general manager A.J. Smith and head coach Norv Turner on Monday.

“It was difficult in the sense that these are two dedicated and loyal individuals who really wanted nothing more than to win a championship,” Spanos said. “I thanked them for that and they both clearly understood why the decision was being made.

"At the beginning of this year, I really knew that if we did not get to the playoffs and at least win some games in the playoffs, I was most likely going to make a change.”

Spanos seldom dismisses general managers. Bobby Beathard was hired in 1990 and served until he retired in 2000. John Butler was hired in 2001 and Smith took over the reins when Butler died from cancer in 2003.

A new era of Chargers football has begun. Dean Spanos has already brought on former Packers GM Ron Wolf as a consultant. The pair will form a search committee for replacements with Ed McGuire, who is the Chargers assistant GM and executive VP of football operations, and John Spanos, the team's director of college scouting. Dean Spanos says he reserves the right to make the final decision on any hire.

The gang of four will first hire a new GM, who will join the committee in search of a new head coach. Spanos refused to disclose potential candidates for either position but confirmed that interview requests have been made to several teams that already have a Super Bowl championship or are in the upcoming playoffs.

A wide net may be cast because Spanos only had one qualification for his next GM: “Anybody who can win.”

Jimmy Raye, the Chargers current director of player personnel, was believed to be the leading candidate for the next GM, but he no longer appears to be a shoe-in with the formation of the hiring committee.

“[Raye] is going to be interviewed this week,” Dean Spanos said. “He knows this team better than anybody, but he is one of the group of candidates.”

Depending on the wishes of the new GM, the coaching pool could also be large. Dean Spanos said he is willing to look at college coaches, which Smith excluded in prior searches. Top collegiate names include Stanford's David Shaw and UCLA’s Jim Mora Jr.

Neither, however, may be available. Shaw just signed a long-term extension, and Mora recently stated he is content in Westwood.

Mora already has relationship with Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano, who was nearly hired as the Bruins DC last offseason before he was promoted from Chargers linebackers coach to DC. If Mora was to be hired, he would likely keep Pagano on as DC.

Colts OC Bruce Arians also has a relationship with John Pagano and may be an ideal candidate. He demonstrated the passion Turner apparently lacked, as well as an ability to win in the face of adversity when he led Indianapolis to nine wins and the playoffs as interim head coach while Chuck Pagano, John's brother, underwent treatment for leukemia this season.

Dean Spanos does not believe the new head coach should feel compelled to keep the current coaching staff in place.

“The most important thing is to get the right guy,” Spanos said. “If he thinks there should be a change, then there will be a change. And if he doesn’t, that’s fine. I am not selling him on if he wants the job (that) he has to take these guys.”

There is already stiff competition to find the next Mr. Right for the Chargers. As of Monday afternoon, six other head coaches had already been fired. Spanos defended his decision to not make a change until the end of the season.

“I don’t see how you could have started the process sooner,” Spanos said. “I can’t send consent letters out. Most of the candidates that are out there are employed by teams now. I didn’t do it out of respect for the players. This team respected Norv Turner, played hard for Norv Turner [and] never gave up.”

Turner was gracious in his exit, thanking Spanos and Smith for the opportunity, but appeared to take a shot at Smith for his poor roster management in recent years.

“The lesson that I know and I have known for a long time: evaluate your best players and keep your best players,” Turner said. “Evaluate your own players and understand who can and who can’t. There aren’t any quick fixes. The free agency thing is not the way to go, it’s to supplement. You have to draft well and you have to keep your best players.”

Fans have been at odds with Turner since he was hired. Turner advised them to show some patience with the next regime.

“For three years I thought we were the most talented team in the division,” Turner said. “For the last three years, I don’t think we have been that because we have had too many changes. Somebody wrote three weeks ago that this team is not that far away from being a playoff team. I would disagree and I know the things that have to get done for that to happen.”

Regardless of who is hired and what additional changes are made, fans will be cheering for the Chargers in San Diego next season. Spanos confirmed there are no plans for a move to Los Angeles.

“I think it is fairly safe to say we will be here,” he said.

Follow the Chargers and Dan McLellan on Twitter @CBSChargers and @sandiegosports.