ON THE FIRING LINE? : Lynn Suddenly Is on the Defensive : * Chargers: He was the architect of one of the top five defenses in the NFL last season. Now Ron Lynn is feeling heat for team’s 0-4 start.
A few years ago he was head-coaching material; in a span of four weeks, Charger defensive coordinator Ron Lynn has become stupid. And expendable.
“No one’s safe around here anymore,” said defensive end Burt Grossman. “Not even me.”
Lynn, the man who brought defensive respectability back to San Diego, has come under fire within the organization for the team’s early-season collapse. The brass has quietly expressed dissatisfaction with Lynn’s philosophical tilt and his apparent reluctance to accept advice and change.
Coach Dan Henning publicly has blamed the defense for the team’s 0-4 start, and privately has become more involved in its direction.
There also are questions being raised behind the scenes: Are Lynn’s defensive schemes too complex? Too outdated? Do his schemes rely too much on trickery and not enough on man-to-man combat? Have his players lost confidence in the plan? Will Lynn take criticism? Will he adjust?
How bad has it become?
Recently Henning brought the team together and pointed out that last year’s impressive fifth-place defensive ranking was misleading. Henning told the players only two other teams last season had played fewer snaps than the Chargers’ defense, so it was no wonder, he said, they fared so well statistically.
“That really fired us up,” one sarcastic defender said.
Henning earned a commendation from owner Alex Spanos after firing offensive coordinator Ted Tollner. Now that it is his offense, Henning has shifted his attention to the defense, and for the first time in Lynn’s six-year tenure, he’s feeling the heat of defeat.
“I don’t like getting criticized anymore than anybody else does,” Lynn said. “I’ve stopped reading the papers because I’m getting shredded everyday. I don’t like the fact my wife has to read that stuff about how stupid I am.
“You’re only as good as what you did yesterday. I laughed at one thing I heard, though. We’ve lost all these games (16) by seven or fewer points. How in the hell would we be in those games without defense? We lose 13-10 (to Atlanta), and it’s a defensive error that loses the game. How the hell do you win a game when it’s 13-10?”
Defense. In hindsight, consider what happened here three years ago. When the Chargers went searching for a head coach it was suggested by one NFL personnel director that the man to replace Al Saunders was “right there in their own backyard.” He offered Ron Lynn’s name.
All those jokes about the lack of defense in San Diego, and that’s how far this team has come thanks to his expertise.
The Chargers hired Henning, however, and now as the losses pile up there is speculation he will be replaced at season’s end. Will the team also be looking for a new defensive coordinator?
“A lot of things happen when teams start losing games,” General Manager Bobby Beathard said. “Sometimes there are scapegoats. Sometimes guys’ reputations go to hell. All different kinds of things happen.
“But we have 12 games left to save the reputations of everybody.”
Lynn’s reputation as a bright, sincere and caring gentleman will go unscathed no matter what the Chargers’ record. However, there is the scent of panic surrounding this team, and a poor start on defense has made Ron Lynn an inviting target.
“We’re still in September and everyone is running around like it’s woe is me, let’s hang the black crepe,” Lynn said. “There are a lot of games to be played.”
Lynn’s mistake has been to fall short of his own expectations. The defense, which was going to save the day for a developing offense, now ranks 28th. It is also last in the league in defending the pass. Only Cincinnati (123) and Pittsburgh (101) have surrendered more points than the Chargers (100).
“We’ve gone beyond the fake nose and false glasses,” Lynn said. “Now I just drive home late at night with the windows darkened.
“I keep thinking I’m going to wake up in the morning and this has been all a bad dream. I’m not pleased where we are by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve spent too many hours busting my butt and doing what we’ve done to get where we are to sit here and say, ‘Yeah, it’s no big deal.’
“It is a big deal. It means a helluva lot, but it means a helluva lot more that we’re 0-4. I’d look like the village idiot to stand up and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to be a great defense.’ But I still have confidence in these players. I still have confidence in what we’re doing and I think we’re going to get better.”
Lynn has been the miracle worker since he arrived here in 1986 and took control of the league’s doormat defense. There are new problems, however.
Lynn’s defense relies on a successful pass rush, and through no fault of his own, the Chargers have lost defensive lineman Lee Williams and have replaced a sack-happy Gunther Cunningham with an easy-going Chuck Clausen as defensive line coach.
Clausen was Henning’s choice to replace Cunningham, but to date Clausen has failed to gain the respect of some players. At the same time, the Chargers’ pass rush has become nonexistent; only Cincinnati has fewer sacks (four) than the Chargers (five).
“Gunther’s gone,” linebacker Leslie O’Neal said. “When Gunther was here we studied the pass all the time. We were always talking about just beating the guy in front of us. We worked on the run, but the pass is something you have to work on all the time, and that was something he stressed.
“We’re not like that now; it’s let’s try to match up this guy with that guy. It’s a match-up deal. You can take advantage of a matchup, but coaches aren’t stupid. If a coach sees at the beginning of the first half that he’s got a guy who is overmatched, he’s going to change it. So what happens? Where do you go?
“That’s the difference. We don’t stress the pass as much as we used to. It’s like before the Atlanta game, all we watched was a lot of run film. I knew they were going to pass, but what do you do?”
O’Neal has been chastised by management in the past for being outspoken, but he continues to be the player that opponents fear the most. Blame it on the organization’s attempt to muzzle O’Neal, or note the change in defensive line coaches--O’Neal has one sack in 1991 after piling up 26 in his previous 32 games.
“I think there’s a lot of frustration going on because there’s been a lack of success,” nose tackle Joe Phillips said. “I think Mr. O’Neal shares in that. Here’s a guy, who quote-unquote is one of the the premier defenders in the league, and we’re going into the fifth game and he’s got one sack.
“But anybody within the defense who points fingers at particular coaches or players to me has a loser’s attitude. That’s divisive. We got enough people saying we got problems and are the worst defense in the league. Maybe we are, and maybe we have to say that before we get better. But all it’s going to do is tear us apart; maybe that in of itself is a problem.”
The Chargers have been cautioned by Henning to keep their contrary opinions to themselves. However, several players applauded O’Neal’s comments but declined comment for fear of retribution.
“Chuck and Gun (Cunningham) are completely different people,” Phillips said. “Maybe O’Neal benefited more from Gun’s style. I agree it’s not the same, but there are guys in the room who didn’t want it to be the same.”
The difference between last year and this year, however, is striking. The Chargers finished fifth in the league in sacks last season, and was it coincidence they placed fifth overall in defense? The Chargers led the AFC in sacks in 1989 and placed sixth overall in defense.
In 24 of the 32 games played in 1989 and 1990, the opposition was limited to 20 or fewer points.
“If we were good last year and we have had some changes in personnel, then either those changes didn’t work or the guys that we have returning aren’t playing as well as they should be,” O’Neal said. “But none of the veterans have been fired, and knowing how this organization feels about me, I’m sure I’d be one of the first to be fired. So what’s the problem? We have one new coach and some new personnel.”
Poor pass coverage also has contributed to the team’s pass-rushing problems, but Elvis Patterson, Wayne Davis and Lou Brock were defending the pass at times while Cunningham was in control, and still the defensive line remained the team’s strength.
The addition of linebacker Junior Seau, who has been moved to defensive end in passing situations, should have made the rush even stronger. Instead of gaining clout, the pass rush has lost its edge.
“You know it’s all going to fall on Lynn, but they’re making him the scapegoat,” O’Neal said. “All we’ve had for the last few years is a defense, so why all of a sudden is he so bad? It’s the same defense with a few people added, and now all of a sudden it’s too complex. Let’s not be stupid about this.”
The Chargers fired safety Vencie Glenn, who made all the defensive calls in the secondary last year, and replaced him with rookie Stanley Richard, who reported late to training camp. They have played second-year free agent Anthony Shelton at strong safety and have tried to compensate for the loss of Williams by employing journeyman George Hinkle and rookie George Thornton on the defensive line.
When the team broke training camp, Lynn pronounced this defense better than ever. At the same time Henning expected a dominant defensive performance to save his job. Both have been left disappointed.
“We really set ourselves up for this,” Phillips said. “There were a lot of statements made about us being good. Now we’re sitting here with mud in our face.
“We’re just falling apart . . . a lot of guys are just happy to be here. As I look around the defensive meeting room, a lot of guys are just happy they made the team. That stinks.
“If that’s your only expectation, you’re gonna be gone in a year or two. Durability and accountability are two huge parts of this game. Obviously some guys don’t feel that way. Until they’re willing to do it, or we find guys that are willing to do it, we’ll continue to have problems.”
Several of the team’s veteran defenders have challenged the newcomers’ study habits. They have said it’s not the complexity of Lynn’s defensive schemes that have forced errors, but the lack of preparation by some.
“There is probably a legitimate problem with that,” Phillips said.
The errors lead to big plays, big plays result in huge chunks of yardage for the opposition and defensive rankings are based on how many yards the defense surrenders. Voila , a last-place defense.
“The scheme can’t be responsible for the turnaround from fifth to 28th,” linebacker Gary Plummer said. “We have a few players in key positions that aren’t grasping the defense. There are some first- and second-year players who have undergone attitude changes.
“You’ll see a guy in training camp doing anything he can to make the team, and then once training camp is over, it’s ‘Hey, I’ve made it.’ ”
The basic structure of Lynn’s system remains the same as it was six years ago. It might be difficult for new players to understand, but as linebacker Billy Ray Smith said, “if they asked us to memorize the Yellow Pages, that’s what we get paid to do. This is not quite that difficult.
“It’s been the same scheme since he got here with a few things added. The thing I like about Coach Lynn is he’s got his scheme, and he believes in it and he’s going to stick with it. I believe in it, too, because anybody that recognizes what a slug No. 54 was playing inside and moves him to outside linebacker, has to be a damn genius.”
The basic structure of Lynn’s defense has also proved to be effective. Lynn took over a defense that was the league’s punching bag and shaped into one of the most highly regarded units.
Despite little help on the offensive side of the ball in the past few years, the defense has held its ground and afforded the Chargers a chance for victory.
“It’s been proven that if players execute what Coach Lynn has down on paper, then we can be successful,” cornerback Gill Byrd said. “I’m a little surprised at everyone’s reaction; it’s only been four weeks and Coach Lynn has had this five-year track record of progress.
“You know what. It’s really a cruel business.”