Front Office

Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith has assembled one of the NFL’s finest teams. Named by Forbes Magazine in 2006 as the NFL’s top general manager, Smith has overseen a renaissance in San Diego during which the Chargers have won three straight AFC West championships and four in the last five seasons. That success has carried over to the postseason where the Chargers’ three playoff wins in 2007-08 mark the franchise’s first since 1995.

Smith took the reins of the Chargers on April 22, 2003 after his close friend and longtime associate, John Butler, lost a lengthy battle with cancer. In Smith’s six years as general manager, the Chargers have won 58 regular-season games, more than all but three teams in the NFL. Only the New England Patriots (77), Indianapolis Colts (75) and Pittsburgh Steelers (62) , who have combined to win 14 division titles and five Super Bowls in that time, have won more. Smith will not rest, nor will he be satisfied, until the Chargers can add their name to that list as Super Bowl champions.

Smith’s success since taking over as general manager has not been lost on the organization. On Jan. 1, 2008, President & CEO Dean Spanos rewarded him with a five-year contract extension thru 2014.

Smith has made many notable decisions during his tenure, but among those that stand out is the recommendation he made to Spanos that the Chargers hire Norv Turner as head coach. Spanos took that recommendation and he and Smith have had a front row seat as Turner has guided the team to an AFC Championship Game and two division titles in his first two years.

A key component of the team’s success has been Smith’s ability to acquire Pro Bowl talent, including a team-record 11 Pro Bowlers in 2006. Smith has been able to do so with the support and financial backing of Spanos.

In perhaps his most notable player move, Smith selected quarterback Eli Manning with the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, and less than an hour later, traded him to the New York Giants for Philip Rivers and several draft picks that were used to select three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Shawne Merriman and Pro Bowl kicker Nate Kaeding.

It didn’t take long for Smith to earn a reputation as one of the NFL’s top talent evaluators. Just one full year into the job, he was named the NFL’s 2004 Executive of the Year by Pro Football Weekly, the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA), FoxSports.com and CBS Sportsline.com. And in 2006, in addition to his selection as Forbes top NFL general manager, the magazine ranked Smith fourth overall among his counterparts in the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada (NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB).

Prior to assuming the general manager’s role in San Diego, Smith spent the previous 27 years moving methodically through the ranks of professional football. He worked as a part-time scout, full-time scout, assistant director of scouting, director of scouting and assistant general manager before being promoted to executive vice president-general manager of the Chargers.

Indianapolis Colts President Bill Polian said of Smith: “In football, A.J. has been there and done that with everything there is to do in the game, going back to the USFL days. He is a quintessential football man.”

And Baltimore Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome added: “A.J. learned from Bill Polian in Buffalo. And he learned from George Allen in the USFL. He’s been around successful people, so he’s learned the right way to do things.”

Smith began his second tenure with the Chargers Jan. 18, 2001 as assistant general manager and director of pro personnel. His duties included monitoring NFL transactions, evaluating pro talent, and handling tryouts and free agent contracts.

Smith has worked in pro football since 1977, including three years in the United States Football League in the early 1980s. He spent 14 seasons (1987-2000) with the Buffalo Bills, joining the team as an area scout in 1987 before being named assistant director of college scouting in 1989. In 1993, Smith became director of pro personnel.

During his tenure in Buffalo, which are referred to as the “Glory Years” in Bills history, Smith worked closely with Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy as the team’s assistant director of college scouting. And during that time, Buffalo made appearances in Super Bowls XXV, XXVI and XXVII. Smith was promoted to director of pro personnel prior to the Bills’ appearance in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Smith served as the Chargers pro personnel director from 1985-86. He also held scouting positions with the USFL’s Chicago Blitz (1982-83) and Pittsburgh Maulers (1984). He began his NFL career in 1977 as a volunteer part-time scout for the New York Giants under the direction of Jim Trimble and moved on to become a part-time scout for the New England Patriots (1978-1980) and Houston Oilers (1981).

Smith made his start in football as an assistant coach at Cranston West High School in Cranston, Rhode Island from 1971-76. He was the head coach of the Rhode Island Kings of the Eastern Football League in 1976 and an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island in 1978.

Smith is a graduate of Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick, Rhode Island. He was a standout on the football and track teams and was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2003. Smith earned a degree in health and physical education from Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1971. In June 2005, Smith returned to his alma mater for the dedication and presentation of a plaque in his honor, which hangs in the A.J. Smith Weight Room inside the Woodward Health and Recreation Center.

Smith played semi-pro football as a wide receiver with the Attleboro (Mass.) Kings of the Eastern Football League from 1972-74 and had a tryout with the Washington Redskins in 1974. He was inducted into the American Football Association’s Minor/ Semi-pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. Smith also taught health and physical education in the Providence (R.I.) junior high school system from 1971-1985.

Smith and his wife, Susan, reside in Rancho Santa Fe. The Smiths have two children, a daughter, Andrea, and a son, Kyle.

Andrea graduated Cum Laude from Cortland State in New York with a degree in sports management. She was an honorable mention All-America volleyball player for the Red Dragons. Andrea now lives in Los Angeles and is an account manager of premium seating services for AEG, Staples Center and NOKIA Theatre L.A. Live.

Kyle had an outstanding football career at Youngstown State. He was a wide receiver and punt returner who set a school record with a reception in 30 consecutive games. Kyle left the Youngstown, Ohio campus ranked ninth in school history with 101 career catches; 11th with 1,536 receiving yards, and third with 56 punt returns and 377 punt return yards.

As a senior, Kyle was the Penguins’ Most Valuable Player and a team captain. Following his senior season, he was invited to play in the 2006 Hula Bowl All-Star Game.

Since leaving Youngstown, Kyle has spent time with the Minnesota Vikings in 2006, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007 and the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europa in ’07 as an allocation of the Bucs. In 2008, he was signed to the practice squad of the Arena Football League’s Arizona Rattlers and is currently playing in the Canadian Football League for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.