PRO FOOTBALL ’85 : COACHES, PLAYERS, TEAMS AND TRENDS : CHARGERS : ’85 Forecast Gloomy, but Spanos Awaits a Return on Investment

A 15-year-old junior playing for a New Jersey high school team recently did a nifty job of explaining why an ultra-successful businessman such as Alex Spanos would write out a check for $40 million to own a pro football franchise.

“People pay more attention to football than any other sport. It’s more of an achievement to the public if you succeed in football,” said the female wide receiver, Elizabeth Balsley.

The operative phrase here, of course, is “succeed in football.” For all his highly publicized tinkering and free spending with the Chargers, Spanos doesn’t know much more than a casual fan about how his new toy will fare in 1985.

The returns begin to come in Sunday, when the Chargers open the regular season at Buffalo with the intent of ending a streak of two-straight losing years.

Spanos is optimistic.

“I like the feel of things,” he said. “You can sense the enthusiasm. I believe we have an outside chance of making the playoffs. I know we will be better on defense, and that’s where games are won.”

Though both Playboy and Sports Illustrated forecast a 4-12 season for the Chargers, none of the players is buying the prediction.

“No way,” sniffed linebacker Billy Ray Smith. “We’ll take care of the four wins in the first six weeks of the season.”

Tight end Eric Sievers was equally indignant.

“We’ve been embarrassed the last two seasons, that’s true,” he said, “and our 0-8 record in the AFC West last year was just totally unacceptable.

“But I think the people predicting poor things for us are putting all their eggs in the absence of Kellen Winslow (out for at least half the season with a knee injury). Sure, we’ll be hurting some, but there’s no way I can see us having another losing season.”

The safest prediction in regard to the 1985 Chargers is that they will stimulate program sales wherever they perform. No fewer than 20 new faces will appear on the opening-day roster thanks to the housecleaning instigated by Spanos and his lieutenants.

Spanos may have the players on edge wondering about job security--which is the way he wants it--but he has no doubt about the public response to his handling of the team.

“I’m so pleased by the letters and comments of fans. They know I’m trying to do the right thing,” Spanos said. “I’m no miracle man, and I can’t take the team to the Super Bowl the first year . . . but we’re working on it.”

Spanos said he never doubted his ability to forge improvements.

“I know everyone else had doubts, but I knew what I was capable of,” Spanos said. “I made a commitment and I fulfilled it.

“My dream now is to build this team to the point where we use the draft just to fill in our weaknesses each year. It will take two or three more years, but we now have the nucleus of a fine club.”

The heart of the team remains quarterback Dan Fouts, whose health is the foremost consideration in how the rebuilding effort is judged in the short term.

Injuries have afflicted him for parts of the past two seasons, reducing the Chargers to a 2-7 record in his absence.

Fouts’ new understudy, Mark Herrmann, played the grand total of one half in the exhibition season, and there is no eagerness to test him under emergency circumstances.

The offensive line is a patched-together affair, consisting of tackles Jim Lachey and Sam Claphan, guards Ed White and Dennis McKnight and center Don Macek. In reserve are Jerry Doerger, Gary Kowalksi and Rich Umphrey, all acquired this summer.

White, who moved to tackle last year after spending 15 seasons at guard, is returning to his natural position this season. The Chargers view Lachey as the cornerstone of the line for the next decade.

The receiver corps was diminished this week by the trade of Bobby Duckworth, its fastest member, to the Los Angeles Rams. There is also concern over the absence of Winslow and a nagging case of Achilles tendinitis afflicting reserve Jesse Bendross.

But the addition of Trumaine Johnson is a plus, and there is hope Wes Chandler will have an all-star year. Charlie Joiner, pro football’s most prolific receiver ever, remains a factor for defenses to consider on third down.

The backfield, which unexpectedly lost Earnest Jackson in a trade to Philadelphia this week, contains a couple of rookies, Curtis Adams and Anthony Steels, each of whom is a more versatile performer.

The Chargers barely took the wraps off new fullback Tim Spencer in the off-season. Spencer, one of Spanos’ multiple signees from the United States Football League, is 225 pounds of blocking might and a proven runner.

It is still uncertain whether the Chargers will be able to obtain running back Gary Anderson from the Tampa Bay Bandits, but the coaching staff is salivating at the prospect of being able to utilize his speed and receiving skills.

In the meantime, Lionel (Little Train) James is not a bad substitute for Anderson’s package of skills.

Perhaps the most surprising development of the summer was Coach Don Coryell’s marked display of enthusiasm for the defensee. Coryell, whose interests run to offense, offense and offense, spoke almost daily about the improvement he noted on the other side of the line.

If he is correct, the boo-birds may be silenced and his job may be safe.

The line is still a long way from the era of Fred Dean, Gary Johnson and Louie Kelcher, but there is reason for optimism. Teaming with veteran Keith Ferguson are Lee Williams, Earl Wilson, Chuck Ehin and Fred Robinson, all of whom had their moments in the exhibition season.

The linebacking corps is the most unchanged element of the team. Returning for their third year together are Linden King, Woody Lowe, Mike Green and Billy Ray Smith.

Look for more blitzing from the San Diego linebackers because of the injection of new speed and skill in the secondary.

Defensive coordinator Tom Bass, who has yearned for more pressure on opposing quarterbacks, should get his wish this year. He appears to have the athletes to employ more man-to-man coverages.

Cornerbacks Danny Walters and Wayne Davis combine with safeties Gill Byrd and Jeff Dale to provide speed and run support such as Charger fans have not seen in years.

Walters, after a mediocre 1984 season marred by drug involvement, is playing up to the promise he showed as a rookie in ‘83, while the cocky Davis has yet to eat any of his words.

Byrd adds stability, and Dale supplies some needed muscle at safety.

Coryell likes what he has seen.

“I feel good about the season,” he said. “We have an eager bunch of young people. They are going to make some errors, but they also have more ability than we have had. They’re going to play hard, we know that. We’re looking forward and expecting a winning season.”