Chargers Fire Schottenheimer

[Jake]

That's a really bad move considering he led them to a 14-2 record and they said he would return anyways.

I guess they figured they might a well can him if half of the staff is gone anyways.

[frankcal20]

That was stupid on the Chargers part especially being so late in the game. Does Norm come to SD?

[Redskins Rule]

Wow!

Dumb doing it now! Especially AFTER they let his assistants go! Even dumber doing it after he led a team to a 14-2 record. Thats hard to do! Not even the Bears could do it in the easy NFC. He did it in the tough AFC. I just don't get this one!

Maybe we can sign Marty? He can become the assistant associate head coach of offense?

[jeremyroyce]

Well, this should have been done along time ago. I am really suprized that he didn't get the axe last year after risking Drew Brees career over a stupid bonus. Like playing him in the last game of the year, a game that didn't matter the Chargers were already out of the playoff race and Drew Brees gets hurt. And then they fire him now. I don't get it.

[1niksder]

San Deigo is crazy for doing this now. All the top in-house choices for the job are gone. Both co-ordinators are gone, The TE coach and LB coach are now Co-ords. somewhere else. Now they have to find almost a full staff and free agency opens in 16 days. They have a GM but he won't have a staff to determine what types of players to draft.

Maybe they waited to fire him until all the other jobs were gone, AJ Smith never liked Marty, Marty felt the same way I'm surprise they didn't fire him after the playoff lost. 14-2 and you get fired. Crazy

[Redskins Rule]

Now that I think about it......I think it was a good move that they waited!

If they fired him right off......Dallas probably would have grabbed him! They would have at the very least given him serious consideration!

And he would have scared me!

[HEROHAMO]

This is a really dumb move. A team coming of a 14-2 record. Now whoever is coming in has to start all over with getting to know the player. One more year he deserved at least that. What a joke of a GM.

[joebagadonuts]

This is a really dumb move. A team coming of a 14-2 record.

I would tend to agree. However, maybe the SD front office sees this as a message that a 14-2 record and nothing to show for it won't cut it. They want to make it to the show. And we're all aware of Shotty's dismal playoff record. I am suprised that they waited so long. The list of qualified coaches who can take this team and keep the momentum going is very short.

[1niksder]

Wade Phillips is rumored to have been his replacement next year (if Marty went 14-2 then 0-1 in the playoffs), or sometime mid-season if things went downhill early. Then all the assistants left and AJ had no one but Marty. He may have put up with him for 1 more season but Marty wanted to replace Wade with another Schottenheimer (his brother), and Smith snapped.

[UK Skins Fan]

Well, the time to worry about Marty's playoff record was before hiring him. They got exactly what they should have expected when they hired him.

It seems to me that the Chargers have been making dumb moves for years, and this one is out of the top drawer. Or was it the decision to hire him in the first place? Whatever, they could struggle next year.

[die cowboys die]

the only dumb thing about this firing was that they didn't do it a long time ago. follow their reasoning (or lack thereof) here:

they basically came right out and said "we only wanted to keep marty because we really like our assistant coaches and don't want to lose that coaching staff by hiring a new coach. once we lost all them anyway, we knew we were going to suck because schottenheimer sucks [which, yes, he does, immensely], and wouldn't have his assistants to mask his incompetence."

completely idiotic. they should have fired him immediately after the season and appointed one of their coordinators as head coach and tried to keep as much of the rest of the staff together as possible. now they're stuck trying to find a real coach after all their good ones left already.

the way the situation was handled was dumb, dumb, dumb.
but firing schottenheimer was absolutely the right move! the man is an absolute moron.

[Mursilis]

This is a really dumb move. A team coming of a 14-2 record. Now whoever is coming in has to start all over with getting to know the player. One more year he deserved at least that. What a joke of a GM.

Actually, I think the move makes sense - Marty had already refused a contract extension, so he was clearly in his last year. Because of all the coordinators and assistants he lost (4) it was going to be a bit of a coaching transition in '07, and another period of transition in '08 because Marty was surely gone then, and a new HC was coming then, perhaps with, yet again, a new staff. The way the Chargers saw it, they might as well get it all out of the way now and bring in someone new to get stability in the long-term. It wasn't like Marty was going to take them to the Super Bowl anyway.

[HEROHAMO]

This is a really dumb move. A team coming of a 14-2 record. Now whoever is coming in has to start all over with getting to know the player. One more year he deserved at least that. What a joke of a GM.

Actually, I think the move makes sense - Marty had already refused a contract extension, so he was clearly in his last year. Because of all the coordinators and assistants he lost (4) it was going to be a bit of a coaching transition in '07, and another period of transition in '08 because Marty was surely gone then, and a new HC was coming then, perhaps with, yet again, a new staff. The way the Chargers saw it, they might as well get it all out of the way now and bring in someone new to get stability in the long-term. It wasn't like Marty was going to take them to the Super Bowl anyway.

The GM let all the coordinators go. Its not like they made an effort to keep the staff. Marty at least deserved one more year. After going 14-2 there is no excuse for firing a guy after a 14-2 season. Who knows they might have made the SuperBowl this upcoming year. Last year INdy went 14-2 or 15-1 and then lost there first playoff game. Theres no telling what they could have done this year.

[Mursilis]

This is a really dumb move. A team coming of a 14-2 record. Now whoever is coming in has to start all over with getting to know the player. One more year he deserved at least that. What a joke of a GM.

Actually, I think the move makes sense - Marty had already refused a contract extension, so he was clearly in his last year. Because of all the coordinators and assistants he lost (4) it was going to be a bit of a coaching transition in '07, and another period of transition in '08 because Marty was surely gone then, and a new HC was coming then, perhaps with, yet again, a new staff. The way the Chargers saw it, they might as well get it all out of the way now and bring in someone new to get stability in the long-term. It wasn't like Marty was going to take them to the Super Bowl anyway.

The GM let all the coordinators go. Its not like they made an effort to keep the staff. Marty at least deserved one more year. After going 14-2 there is no excuse for firing a guy after a 14-2 season. Who knows they might have made the SuperBowl this upcoming year. Last year INdy went 14-2 or 15-1 and then lost there first playoff game. Theres no telling what they could have done this year.

And they still may do great things next year - the talent's still there for the most part. Jon Gruden won the Super Bowl in his first year as the Buc's coach. But it wasn't gettiing done with Marty.

[HEROHAMO]

This is a really dumb move. A team coming of a 14-2 record. Now whoever is coming in has to start all over with getting to know the player. One more year he deserved at least that. What a joke of a GM.

Actually, I think the move makes sense - Marty had already refused a contract extension, so he was clearly in his last year. Because of all the coordinators and assistants he lost (4) it was going to be a bit of a coaching transition in '07, and another period of transition in '08 because Marty was surely gone then, and a new HC was coming then, perhaps with, yet again, a new staff. The way the Chargers saw it, they might as well get it all out of the way now and bring in someone new to get stability in the long-term. It wasn't like Marty was going to take them to the Super Bowl anyway.

The GM let all the coordinators go. Its not like they made an effort to keep the staff. Marty at least deserved one more year. After going 14-2 there is no excuse for firing a guy after a 14-2 season. Who knows they might have made the SuperBowl this upcoming year. Last year INdy went 14-2 or 15-1 and then lost there first playoff game. Theres no telling what they could have done this year.

And they still may do great things next year - the talent's still there for the most part. Jon Gruden won the Super Bowl in his first year as the Buc's coach. But it wasn't gettiing done with Marty.

Jon Gruden was the one and only coach who ever has won a SuperBowl in his first year as coach. Meaning it is not likely whichever coach they bring in will take them to the SuperBowl and win it. Who is available? Whom ever it may be they better be good. Not to mention they have to bring in a Offensive Cordinator /defensive cordinator/ and a head coach. They still have the talent and are a good team.

[die cowboys die]

This is a really dumb move. A team coming of a 14-2 record. Now whoever is coming in has to start all over with getting to know the player. One more year he deserved at least that. What a joke of a GM.

Actually, I think the move makes sense - Marty had already refused a contract extension, so he was clearly in his last year. Because of all the coordinators and assistants he lost (4) it was going to be a bit of a coaching transition in '07, and another period of transition in '08 because Marty was surely gone then, and a new HC was coming then, perhaps with, yet again, a new staff. The way the Chargers saw it, they might as well get it all out of the way now and bring in someone new to get stability in the long-term. It wasn't like Marty was going to take them to the Super Bowl anyway.

The GM let all the coordinators go. Its not like they made an effort to keep the staff. Marty at least deserved one more year. After going 14-2 there is no excuse for firing a guy after a 14-2 season. Who knows they might have made the SuperBowl this upcoming year. Last year INdy went 14-2 or 15-1 and then lost there first playoff game. Theres no telling what they could have done this year.

And they still may do great things next year - the talent's still there for the most part. Jon Gruden won the Super Bowl in his first year as the Buc's coach. But it wasn't gettiing done with Marty.

Jon Gruden was the one and only coach who ever has won a SuperBowl in his first year as coach. Meaning it is not likely whichever coach they bring in will take them to the SuperBowl and win it. Who is available? Whom ever it may be they better be good. Not to mention they have to bring in a Offensive Cordinator /defensive cordinator/ and a head coach. They still have the talent and are a good team.

herohamo,
the chargers went 14-2 in spite of marty schittenheimer for 2 reasons:

1. they have very good players
2. they had good assistant coaches

the "joke" of a GM is the man responsible for stockpiling the team with the outstanding talent that got them to 14-2 in the first place. your assertion that he is responsible for "not keeping the assistant coaches" demonstrates a comprehensive lack of knowledge on the rules about this stuff. you can't prevent a coach from taking a higher position on another team. the only way to try to keep him would be to try to give them a higher position on your own team. san diego's offensive AND defensive coordinators became head coaches! so did you want the GM to create some kind of triumvirate head coach configuration, with them and schittenheimer? that's obviously impossible. it was impossible to keep those coaches.

schittenheimer is a man who lives or dies by his assistant coaches, because he himself is incompetent. look at his one year here: his offensive coordinator was pioneering the "Blindfolded Monkey Throwing Darts at a High School Football Team Playbook" method of playcalling, yet Schitty defended him and insisted that he be retained the next season. no, we didn't have enough good players at that point anyway, but the playcalling made a bad situation even worse.

don't you remember this?? it STUNS me when i see redskins fans defending this incomprehensible moron. go back and watch a few games from the 2001 season, throw up a few times, and get back to me.

[Irn-Bru]

schittenheimer is a man who lives or dies by his assistant coaches, because he himself is incompetent. look at his one year here: his offensive coordinator was pioneering the "Blindfolded Throwing Darts at a High School Football Team Playbook" method of playcalling, yet Schitty defended him and insisted that he be retained the next season. no, we didn't have enough good players at that point anyway, but the playcalling made a bad situation even worse.

The Skins looked really good in the 2001 season, especially by the end of the year. I have no doubts that Schotty (please don't construe his name into masked profanity, by the way, as it's bending the rules) would have taken us to great records and several playoff appearances.

Of course, we'd probably not get anywhere past the 2 round, so, there's that.

To say that he needs good assistants to do well is to claim that Schotty has basically been lucky for his entire career. The man may not have won the big one but he's been successful wherever he's been.

[Mursilis]

schittenheimer is a man who lives or dies by his assistant coaches, because he himself is incompetent. look at his one year here: his offensive coordinator was pioneering the "Blindfolded Throwing Darts at a High School Football Team Playbook" method of playcalling, yet Schitty defended him and insisted that he be retained the next season. no, we didn't have enough good players at that point anyway, but the playcalling made a bad situation even worse.

The Skins looked really good in the 2001 season, especially by the end of the year. I have no doubts that Schotty (please don't construe his name into masked profanity, by the way, as it's bending the rules) would have taken us to great records and several playoff appearances.

Of course, we'd probably not get anywhere past the 2 round, so, there's that.

To say that he needs good assistants to do well is to claim that Schotty has basically been lucky for his entire career. The man may not have won the big one but he's been successful wherever he's been.

You're basically correct with that last sentence - which is why it's such a stunner he's never been to the Big Game, especially this year. I was watching that playoff game vs. New England and seriously wondering if Marty had spit in the face of God Himself to lose like that, at home, with such talent as he had on that team. It just boggles the mind.

[Irn-Bru]

You're basically correct with that last sentence - which is why it's such a stunner he's never been to the Big Game, especially this year. I was watching that playoff game vs. New England and seriously wondering if Marty had spit in the face of God Himself to lose like that, at home, with such talent as he had on that team. It just boggles the mind.

It does boggle the mind. It's not always his fault, either. From what I understand (I didn't actually get to watch the game) his players made some big mistakes as well toward the end.

Then there was a year with the Browns when he went to the AFC Championship game only to lose when Byner fumbled the ball on Denver's 3 yard line with 65 seconds left. I think that he's just snakebit.

[UK Skins Fan]

I just can't believe the hate that Schottenheimer gets (then again, hate is a staple diet for some people). If he hadn't been canned in Washington, I have little doubt that we would have been playoff contenders for as long as he stayed. The Redskins were winning football games with some mediocre talent at the end of his one season, and his assistants were hardly stellar then.

The man is a damned fine coach, with a serious playoff deficiency. He doesn't seem easy to like, and the offence during his season in DC was painful.

But he got the team winning football games. And he's done it before, and he's done it a lot. The record books show it, it's in black and white.

[1niksder]

Looks like it's going to be Norval as HC and Ted Cotrell will run the defense,,,
according to FoxSports radio

[Irn-Bru]

Well, it's time that LT learns how to run that 3rd and long draw play. The draw is to Norv as the sweep was to Lombardi.


I'm (mostly) kidding; I was a bit younger during Norv's tenure in D.C. but I always thought (and my dad thinks) that he was good in terms of pure play calling. Not great for much else -- especially leadership -- though.

[PulpExposure]

I'm (mostly) kidding; I was a bit younger during Norv's tenure in D.C. but I always thought (and my dad thinks) that he was good in terms of pure play calling. Not great for much else -- especially leadership -- though.

Turner is a great offensive mind. I mean hell, he coached Gus Frerotte into a Pro Bowl year. Yeah, Mr. Headbutt himself.

He sucks as a head coach, though. But not even he can screw up with the insane talent San Diego has stockpiled.

[UK Skins Fan]

It's been argued by some that firing Schottenheimer wasn't dumb, but this is a real gamble. Norv Turner?

I know that a number of coaches have been a lot better second time around, but I just don't see Turner becoming a good head coach. Their offence won't be a problem though.

[cleg]

So Schott followed Norv here and now Norv is following Schott in S.D.

Does anyone know if Norv sold his soul to the devil because he cannot possibly be the best person out ther to coach the Chargers, I mean my goodness.