Who’s Running the Chargers? : Al Saunders and Ron Nay Are Only Heirs Apparent, but They Already Are a Powerful Duo

Al Saunders, the officially sanctioned heir in Heir Coryell, was sitting in the den of his decorator-perfect North County home when his 7-year-old son climbed into his lap along with Sugar, the silver and white rat the youngster had gotten for Christmas.

“Sugar’s best trick is crawling inside your shirt,” Saunders said.

Saunders, who has been anointed by Alex Spanos, the owner of the San Diego Chargers, as the successor to Coach Don Coryell, must accomplish a couple of tricks himself before taking over the Chargers, most likely after the 1987 season.

Saunders, who joined the Chargers as an assistant coach in 1983, is 50% of the new management team that is being groomed to move up when Coryell and General Manager John Sanders probably retire when their contracts run out two years from now.

The other fair-haired boy is Ron Nay, 46, who is listed as chief scout but is closer to being director of football operations.

In his interim role as “assistant head coach,” Saunders, 39, will try to bring a sense of balance to a team that has been top-heavy with offense and laughably deficient in defense.

While completing work on his doctorate in athletic administration and sports management at USC, Saunders also will have to manage the trick of diplomatically wielding broad powers without appearing to undercut Coryell.

Coryell and Sanders remain the titular heads in the Charger hierarchy, but Spanos makes little attempt to disguise the growing clout of Saunders.

“I’ve been sitting back for a year and a half since buying this team, evaluating the problems and learning to cope,” Spanos said, contradicting the idea that he tends to be impatient.

“Let me tell you, I’ve never felt so good as I have in the 30 days since Al moved up. I can’t describe the peace of mind I’ve had. On a daily basis, I know what is going on in this organization, and that’s the secret to success in business.”

Saunders and Nay also have a look that appeals to the image-conscious Spanos. Both are trim and well-groomed, glib and self-assured.

“They reflect well on me and my organization,” Spanos said.

Saunders and Nay are the guys who must solve the riddle of how to make the Chargers whole. They have the owner’s ear, plus the luxury of telling him when he’s wrong. Of course, they have to prove it to him.

Nay is the more outspoken of the two. After 14 years on the road as a scout, he has little doubt about his preparedness for running a team. He views the Pittsburgh Steelers as the model of success, but it’s Al Davis he has singled out to beat.

“I know more about him than he knows about me, and that’s my advantage,” Nay said. “Other than Paul Brown, he’s the only owner who’s been a coach. He can make a lot of mistakes and not get fired.

“But I’m not in awe of Al Davis. I respect him, but I can compete with him. We’ll catch him and pass him. I guess that gives him one one more clipping for his bulletin board.”

Saunders, the grandson of a Buckingham Palace guard, is no less sure of himself than Nay, but he isn’t the type to provide fuel for the enemy. Besides, it’s not his time just yet to take on Davis.

“I have great respect for Don Coryell’s title as head coach,” Saunders said. “Any transition that takes place, I want the blessing of everyone concerned. I don’t want to look like a vulture waiting for Don’s end.

“This has to be made absolutely clear: I am no usurper. It would crush me if anyone thought that. It turns my stomach to think anyone might view me in that light. I am not a threat to Don Coryell.”

Coryell also seems comfortable with Saunders.

“I’m only interested in winning,” Coryell said. “Al is bright, has an excellent football mind and the confidence and trust of everyone in our organization. He’s going to handle most of the administrative detail, which will free me to spend more time with the players. He’s a big plus.”

So far, there seems no reason to think otherwise.

Nay, like Saunders, is concerned about being seen as overstepping his bounds, but there are men in the front office who thought he was presumptuous last fall in making sweeping statements, one of which was: “We’ve got some rookies who have only four games to prove they belong in the NFL.”

Nay, who often was a guest in the owner’s private box and was considered a spokesman for Spanos, now says he was uncomfortable with that label.

“Mr. Spanos speaks for himself and thinks for himself,” Nay said. “I was not there to second-guess our coaches or strategy. I did discuss football operations and personnel with him. I think he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to this team because he removes the obstacles to winning.”

It isn’t clear how much influence Nay wielded in the owner’s decision to renew Coryell’s contract, but there’s no doubt his voice was heard.

“I think it was a real plus that Don didn’t sell out to expediency this year,” Nay said. “He didn’t sacrifice the future for short-term needs. It would’ve been natural for him to want to make trades for veteran players who could help save his skin, but he wasn’t afraid to use a bunch of rookies, even with his job on the line.”

Coryell, who was under a mandate to produce at least a .500 record in 1985, made it, just barely. The Chargers closed with three wins in their final four games to finish 8-8.

The day after the regular season ended, Coryell’s contract was extended through 1987 and Saunders was appointed assistant head coach.

Even if Coryell should manage to produce a victory in Super Bowl XXII, which requires an active imagination to envision at this date, the 1987 season will be Coryell’s last.

Then, the lightning will be passed to Saunders, a former Junior Olympic freestyle swimming champion who never played organized football until he walked on at San Jose State.

There is likely to be some initial confusion about Saunders. How should we address him, Coach or Doctor? Is he a Tom Landry clone, or Bill Walsh with a postgraduate degree? Can he disprove the notion that only Coryell can make a tree, a passing tree?

For a preliminary answer, consider the geometry of his face. Few objects of modern art have quite the clarity of line or convey the brutish perfection of Don Shula’s jutting jaw, but Saunders has much of the same steely angularity.

The real key, however, lies several inches above the jawline. Compressed between the ears is, perhaps, one of the more potent, if as yet unrecognized, minds in the National Football League.

“I like Bill Walsh’s intellectual approach,” Saunders said. “Football is sophisticated and scientific. A coach is not a fat guy with a whistle around his neck. I strongly resent the perception of a dumb jock in a sweat shirt. Hey, I can do more than grunt.”

Saunders’ style could be described as proper and polished. There is, however, a haughtiness born of conviction when he describes his approach to coaching.

“We don’t believe in the conservative, old-fashioned notion of simply lining up and trying to out-execute the other team, and if you have the best guys, you win,” Saunders said.

“It’s no fluke that we’ve had the best offense in pro football six of the last seven years. Our scheme helps make our people--you can start with Charlie Joiner, Lionel James and Mark Herrmann. And we never rest. Complacency is a killer.”

Saunders has been known to work six straight 22-hour days in assisting Coryell and Ernie Zampese with the design and implementation of a Charger game plan.

He said he’s no clock-watcher, but that hasn’t always been the case. Between the ages of 10 and 16, he was usually up at 5 a.m. to join his father in the commute from Oakland to San Francisco, where he attended school.

Saunders had to report for 90 minutes of swimming practice by 6 a.m., and the discipline he acquired remains a basic part of his work ethic.

A certain feistiness may have been imparted by his father, once an instructor in the Special Forces--Britain’s equivalent of the Green Berets--and later a successful amateur boxer. Certainly, Saunders was competitive as a young swimmer, setting age-group records in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles.

By his senior year, though, the satisfaction had worn thin. Although he had never played a down of competitive football in high school, that didn’t deter him from trying out at San Jose State as a walk-on.

He played wide receiver as a freshman before switching to defensive back, where he was a three-year starter and captain his final season. He recently was inducted into the school’s hall of fame.

After graduating, Saunders earned a master’s degree in education at Stanford, then enrolled at USC as a doctoral candidate and coach of the freshman football squad. He also has been an assistant at Missouri, Utah State, Cal and Tennessee.

His willingness to work with young players played no small part in Spanos’ favorable impression of Saunders. Last spring, after the Chargers had lost veteran backup quarterback Ed Luther to the USFL, the decision was made to expedite the development of inexperienced Bruce Mathison.

“I was really impressed with the job he did,” Spanos said. “Al told me the kid would have everything he needed to know in five months. He was so devoted to helping, it showed great leadership qualities. We eventually waived Bruce Mathison, but I didn’t feel badly because I knew Al had done all he could for the guy.”

Saunders, in addition to coaching, has pursued his Ph.D. and is now only a dissertation away from completing his work. He would not publicly discuss the topic of his dissertation, fearing that someone might steal his idea, but it can be said that his work could have an impact on the evaluation of college talent by NFL teams.

The influence of his graduate work is clear when Saunders discusses his approach to managing.

“The head football coach is like a corporate manager at General Motors,” he said. “The goal is to make the operation solvent and efficient.

“There’s a lot more involved than being a tactician. The coach has to know the workings of the entire organization. And he has to be able to talk with everyone, from 21-year-old millionaire players to office staff, fans, media and the owner himself.”

Saunders’ first significant task will be one of efficiency, restructuring a defense that has lagged so far behind that it’s almost dropped off the charts.

Two defensive assistants, Jim Wagstaff and Chuck Weber, recently were fired, as was special teams coach Marv Braden. Defensive coordinator Dave Adolph faced the possibility of being reassigned to another job.

Saunders has been screening applicants and making recommendations to Spanos.

“It’s hard for me to understand just why the statistics haven’t been better,” Saunders said. “I believe our defensive personnel is better than the record shows.

“I haven’t reached any conclusions yet, and it’s not up to me, I don’t think. Once our new staff is in place, they will have the responsibility for the defense.”

It will be up to Saunders, however, to keep Spanos apprised of the effort to make the defense respectable. Saunders may not be accountable for the defense over the next two years, but it’s reasonable to expect he will create a mind set that makes defense a higher priority from the standpoint of the draft, trades, practice and attitude.

This much can be assumed: The defense no longer will be treated as a second-class entity. No more will the attitude be, “Just get us the ball.”

And now, a paradox. The needs of the Charger defense--a dominant pass rusher and a blue-chip linebacker--may not be addressed on the first round of this year’s draft.

The Chargers have two first-round choices, Nos. 14 and 15, but it’s unlikely that either of the two defensive linemen rated most highly, Tony Casillas of Oklahoma and Jon Hand of Alabama, will still be available.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Chargers wound up selecting an offensive lineman to bolster the protection for quarterback Dan Fouts and a wide receiver to lend a deep threat.

“We have the league’s best offense and we can’t let it slide,” Nay said. “We certainly need defensive help, but we just can’t go berserk and use all our picks for defense.”

He didn’t rule out a trade that would enable the Chargers to move up in the drafting order, but it appears a long shot that San Diego would offer tight end Kellen Winslow, as some have speculated. Nay said he expects Winslow to re-establish himself as the NFL’s premier tight end. Of course, he could be saying that just to drive up the player’s trade value.

Nay predicted that as many as nine rookies might make the squad next fall, but he doesn’t foresee the wholesale turnover of a year ago, when 20 new players appeared on the roster.

Nay’s predisposition to speak his mind really comes to the fore when he talks about scouting. He loves to tell war stories, such as the one about the big offensive lineman who wouldn’t run a 40-yard dash for him because he feared he was too slow and would lose money on his contract.

Nay, who was then employed by a scouting combine, told the kid he represented five warm weather teams and they wouldn’t draft him without a 40 time. “Sure enough, he was drafted by Buffalo, and he’s been playing in the snow for years because he wouldn’t run for me,” Nay said, chuckling.

Nay is a proponent of building through the draft. His analysis of the NFL’s most successful teams--the Steelers, Cowboys, Raiders and Dolphins--has convinced him that the draft is the best way to stockpile talent. Although he doesn’t rule out a judicious trade here and there, he believes it’s folly to deviate once a policy of building through the draft is in place.

He isn’t reluctant to acknowledge the truth of what many critics have noted, that the Chargers mortgaged their future in the early 1980s with deals that sent more than a dozen draft picks to other teams in exchange for veterans, several of whom barely qualified as marginal.

Emboldened by his rise to prominence, Nay has these words of caution for Spanos: “The biggest danger I can see is impatience. “

As students of Charger history are aware, the powerhouse teams of 1979-82 were built basically through the 1975 draft, which brought Gary Johnson, Mike Williams, Louie Kelcher, Fred Dean, Billy Shields and others.

It has been pointed out countless times, and Nay doesn’t dissent, that the Chargers erred by straying from their path of building through the draft. A total of 14 selections in the first four rounds were traded over a five-year span.

It’s those missing picks who would have given the team the backbone of five- to seven-year veterans who were missing from the 1985 Chargers. And it’s because of those deals that the Chargers have some low-round picks who otherwise might not have made the team, according to Nay.

“You just have to have a long-range plan and stick to it, or it’ll all get away from you,” Nay said. “We moved up our timetable for making the playoffs by a year when Mr. Spanos brought in a group of young players from the USFL last season.”

Nay has spent much of his career living out of a suitcase. After a couple of years as a minor league baseball player, he drifted into scouting. He always preferred evaluating athletes to devising strategy or engaging in office politics.

“The most satisfying thing that’s happened to me was when I was made head scout last year, and I got phone calls from four or five guys that I’d been on the road with for years and years. It meant a lot when they said I was an example of a guy making it on his merits, without playing games in an office.”

Nay, who admits it took him three years to realize he was grading offensive linemen too harshly, doesn’t think it will take that long to make the Chargers champions.

“Alex Spanos isn’t just spending a bunch of money, he’s creating an atmosphere people want to work in,” Nay said. “In a few years, people will be looking to us and asking, ‘Mr. Spanos, how’d you do it?’ ”