Organizational Chart Is Even More Complex Than Charger Offense

Correct me if I am wrong, but don’t the Chargers have a rather convoluted organizational structure?

I know, they have all the conventional positions. They have a chairman of the board, general manager, assistant general manager, head coach, assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, line coach, quarterback, director of scouting and receptionist, among others.

However, an organizational chart for the Chargers would look like one of Picasso’s works.

This occurred to me as I pondered the assorted maneuvers made Monday by Owner (and President and Chairman of the Board) Alex Spanos. The focal point, of course, was the announcement that the contract of Coach Don Coryell had been renewed through 1987.

This was a decision to be applauded. Firing Coryell would have been like firing the pilot because a flight attendant spilled dinner all over the galley. The owner/president/chairman should never have encouraged speculation that Coryell’s job was anything but secure.

So now I have this box for my organizational chart. It is marked “head coach” and it contains the name Coryell.

But to where does it connect?

Spanos also announced that Al Saunders had been promoted to assistant head coach. I presumed that I would position that box under the one marked “head coach” and draw a line connecting them.

Not exactly. As I understand it, Saunders will work as a liaison between the coaching staff and the owner. Thus, I contemplate whether to position the assistant head coach above the head coach and below the owner, or maybe somewhere off to the side. Is Saunders really assistant owner?

I’ll just stick this box off to the side with a question mark.

If Saunders is the assistant head coach, who is this fellow listed as special assistant to the head coach? His name is Mike Faklis, and the media guide explains that he has been employed by the A.G. Spanos Company as vice-president/leasing since 1967. It does not say whether he is a vice-president moonlighting as a special assistant or a special assistant moonlighting as a vice-president.

Frankly, I don’t know where to put the special assistant to the head coach box. Is he too a liaison between Coryell and Spanos? Or a liaison between Coryell and whatever auto dealer he is endorsing? Or perhaps a double-agent?

I’ll just stick this box off to the side with a question mark.

Now we come to a little game of musical boxes. When the music started, Ernie Zampese’s name was in the assistant head coach box. When the music stopped, Saunders’ name was there and Zampese’s name was without a box.

So Zampese’s name landed in the offensive coordinator box. Dave Levy’s name had been in that box, but he was not left out on the doorstep. You see, Levy’s name had been in two boxes. He was also offensive line coach, and his name would remain in that box.

Fortunately for morale, Zampese is not the type to worry about what he is called. For that matter, he probably did not even know he was assistant head coach and undoubtedly does not care that he is now a mere offensive coordinator. If he knows.

Zampese’s only interest is in designing a high-octane offense. All he needs is a blackboard and a projector. He does not need a desk and he cares not what it says on the door. He would work in a cave on Mt. Laguna, and be happy.

This is a box I can stick off to the side, and mark it with an exclamation point rather than a question mark.

Now Levy, who had occupied two boxes, is down to one. It probably is not that big a change. He reports to Zampese as the offensive line coach just as he reported to Zampese as the offensive coordinator. They have changed boxes, but they still have that connecting line.

Of course, other aspects of this organization are baffling and a bit unusual. The Chargers, after all, give us a color commentator who is also the business manager. This would be Pat Curran, who reports with Ted Leitner on Sundays (and an occasional Monday night). I have no idea whom he reports to during the remainder of the week.

And there are other boxes I have no idea where to position.

Throughout the fall, Director of Scouting Ron Nay has been described as Spanos’ closest confidante. This is nice, except that the director of scouting normally ranks considerably below the general manager in any organizational chart I have ever seen.

And now we learn that an assistant head coach is to be a liaison between the head coach and the owner/president/chairman. Does this mean that Saunders is now the right hand man, and the director of scouting is a left out man?

After being such a high-profile figure throughout the fall, the director of scouting seems to have disappeared of late.

I guess I will stick this box off to the side with a question mark.

Also among the missing, or at least misplaced, are General Manager John Sanders and Assistant General Manager Tank Younger. Folks with such job descriptions generally have their boxes located near the very top, but these fellows have seemingly disappeared from the Chargers’ superstructure.

Have they retired without telling us? Have they been retired without being told?

These are two more boxes to be stuck off to the side with question marks.

To rehash and make sure this is perfectly unclear, we have an organization with the coaching staff reporting to a head coach who reports to the owner/president/chairman through the assistant head coach. We have an offensive coordinator designing plays in a cave, a special assistant to the head coach/vice-president/leasing, a now-you-see-him-now-you-don’t director of scouting and a general manager and an assistant general manager who do not seemingly have anything to generally manage.

If I am Alex Spanos, I think I would change defensive coordinators. I would look for a guy who can put together a defense no one can possibly look at and understand. I would hire the same guy who put together the Chargers’ organizational structure.

I would hire Alex Spanos.