Chargers Fire Marty Schottenhiemer !!!

[The Ancient Enemy]

The front office owns that team, and they should be the ones who make the decisions. Just like how parents should make the decisions in the household until the child comes of age to leave or whatever.

As I said earlier, I am sure Marty Schottenheimer is a great guy and a great guy to play under. HOWEVER... has he or has he not dropped the ball every time a big game comes around? There is no doubt in my mind that the San Diego Chargers are the best team in the NFL, and probably will be next year, but as Ham said, they'll probably lose the first 3 games and I'm saying they probably will not make the playoffs. All the pieces were in place this season for them to win it, and for them to get Schottenheimer a ring.

It is astounding to me sometimes how people dismiss history and historical patterns. I have THIRTEEN YEARS worth of playoff evidence to support my claim that Marty Schottenheimer is a choke artist. A lot of those teams were very good. The pro-Schott people have zero evidence to support a claim that he should have stayed there if they really want a trophy in San Diego. Now, don't you find it a little bit strange that Marty Schottenheimer gave Wade Phillips AND Cam Cameron a vote of confidence when he told them to take those other jobs? How about when he turned down that 2008 contract option? Doesn't that tell you that he himself knew he wasn't going to be around much longer? If your head coach tells the coordinators they should take those other jobs, what the hell does that tell the front office?

[Weapon X]

Its actually not strange Schottenhiemer would give a vote of confidence to his two coordinators. That is a policy he has had for twenty plus years. If anyone ever associated with his coaching staff had the opportunity to persue any kind of upgrade in job, he would give them his support. He did it with Cowher and countless others during his career. Belicheck may not practice that, but Schottenhiemer does. And the contract option was borderline pathetic. It had a 1 million dollar buyout for his contract and you know A.J. Smith would take full advantage of that. I would want some job security too, especially after a 14-2 season.

Whether you are a Schottenhiemer supporter or whether you think he is garbage, you have to believe the Chargers have down graded themselves at the head coaching position. If you don't like Schottenhiemer you have to hate Turner. He had 7 years in Washington. He coached during the twilight of the Big 3 in Dallas, before the ascension of Andy Reid's Eagles, and while Arizona was still in their division and the best he could do was 1 playoff season. He was suppose to turn around the Raiders, but made them worse. I might be wrong about him and this maybe an opportunity to prove me wrong, but I think he is wretched as a head coach. The Chargers can't possibly think they are better off with him leading this team. He can coach my offense anytime. Dick Lebeau can coach my defense anytime. But keep those guys away from the head coach position of my team.

[The Ancient Enemy]

Okay, good points.

Remember though... Turner coached at Washington, and Oakland, like you said. Who are the 2 worst owners in the NFL? If you said Dan Snyder and Al Davis, you are correct. This is why I think Norv Turner might still have some tread on his tires. Is he gonna win a Super Bowl? I highly doubt it. He's a transition coach, I would think. Who else were they supposed to hire?

Look at this as if you are the San Diego front office. You are in this business to win championships. If you're the type of guy who is looking to settle down and raise a family, do you court a girl who drinks every night and is irresponsible with money? Of course not. You don't have any faith in her. The Chargers are looking to make a commitment to winning championships, and I gotta tell ya, that cupboard is loaded to the gills. Right now is the time to make adjustments. All they need is a capable receiver. I just don't see how you can look at 13 years of failure and trust that he's the right guy whenever the coordinators left. With Cameron and Phillips, he's still in San Diego. But he butts heads with his bosses, man. Add that to his resume, and you really have a hard time thinking this guy is reliable. That's all I'm saying. He's obviously a decent coach, and probably a great guy, but this is a business. None of us that have had the pleasure (or misfortune) of having people work underneath us will ever say that they want someone there who you think is unreliable and will let you down.

[Weapon X]

You are right, who else were they supposed to hire? I may not think it was a good move as a whole and certainly don't think too much of Turner as a head coach, but he was the best candidate for the job. He knows the Chargers organization, he was the only one with head coach experience, and he is actually a good offensive mind and great developer of young QBs. I don't think he will do any better then Schottenhiemer, but who knows.

It may seem like I am a big Schottenhiemer supporter, but I would not want him coaching my team. If this happened a year earlier and he was out there not coaching and looking for a job, I would not want him to even interview with the Steelers. Therefore, I can't totally disagree with the move, but I think they should have made it sooner giving them the best possible pool of coaches to choose from. They would have had a chance at promoting in house or maybe going after a top college coach. We will see how it works out.

[The Ancient Enemy]

Isn't the old saying that a ship is a reflection of her captain?