NFL: Chargers Fire Schottenheimer

[-Jrabbit]

Another name added to the list...

FOXSports.com reports the Chargers have gained permission to interview defensive coordinators Gary Gibbs (Saints) and Rex Ryan (Ravens), respectively, regarding their vacant head-coaching job.
They'll meet with Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera within the next 48 hours. FOXSports' Jay Glazer calls Seattle DBs coach Jim Mora someone who could be considered.
Source: FOXSports.com

[-Jrabbit]

Why was Marty fired?

The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports Marty Schottenheimer was fired because he tried to hire his brother Kurt to run San Diego's defense.
His attempt to hire Kurt Schottenheimer, Green Bay's DBs coach, is believed to have been "the last straw" for president Dean Spanos and GM A.J. Smith. Whether this is true or not, it's clear the loss of key staff members was the main cause for the demise of Martyball in San Diego.
Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette

[-Jrabbit]

Hearsay and innuendo:

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat believes NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci could be a "leading contender" to replace Marty Schottenheimer.

Mooch wants to coach again and could bring a West Coast-style offense that would cater to San Diego's bigger receiving corps. He's also reportedly friends with Chargers GM A.J. Smith and the Spanos family.

Source: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat

[Lord Avalon]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
And she cooked for us during the Rah Super Bowl party.

Mooch [is] also reportedly friends with Chargers GM A.J. Smith and the Spanos family.

That would seem to be a plus.

[Lord Avalon]

Excerpt from Peter King's MMQBTE:

The Marty mess
Chargers mishandled entire Schottenheimer situation

Regarding the Marty Schottenheimer debacle in San Diego: I blame president Dean Spanos and general manager A.J. Smith for two enormous mistakes they made along the road to kicking the coach out the door:

1. The idiotic "contract extension'' offer that was made to Schottenheimer when the Chargers announced he would not be fired. How do you offer the sixth-winningest coach of all time -- or some losing schmoe, for that matter -- an extension with only $1 million of the $4.5-million guaranteed? What Spanos was doing with that extension was saying: "Marty, we beg you, don't take this slap-in-the-face offer. And let's all go our separate ways after this season, when we can promote Wade Phillips or Cam Cameron to the head job.'' Oooops.

2. To me, the job of a team president and general manager, when your team is in full crisis mode (as the Chargers were in the last few days, seeing four of their top five or six assistant coaches walk out the door to coordinator or head-coaching jobs) is to be an olive-branch-toting guy. One of them needed to walk into the head coach's office and say: "For the sake of the franchise, we can't let this season go down the drain. We've got to repair this relationship for the next few months and go forward with the best interests of the team in mind.'' Neither did.

I support Schottenheimer if he felt that hiring his well-traveled brother, Kurt, to be defensive coordinator was the best decision for the team. Can't Schottenheimer have any say on who he goes to battle with for the next season? Granted, Kurt Schottenheimer is not a very well-regarded coordinator candidate. But if you're going to bring Marty back, you're not going to let him pick the players and he's got gaping holes on his coaching, he should be allowed to pick the staff. And from the smoke signals wafting from Chargerland, that was a major problem at the end.

I like Smith. He's great at his job, which is 80 percent acquiring talent. On balanace, no one since 2001 has done a better job of building a franchise through the draft than the Chargers, and it's mostly due to Smith's keen eye. But he's got to look himself in the mirror on the other 20 percent. This is a people business, and being autocratic all the time is not the way to earn respect from your co-workers.

In my business -- in fact, in any business -- if the underling and the boss aren't speaking, and if the relationship is hopelessly severed, you move on. You switch jobs. That's the way this relationship was a month ago. And Spanos should have made the decision then, when his staff wouldn't yet have been in tatters.

Now that the Colts have won a Super Bowl, the Chargers now are in danger of becoming the most disappointing team of the decade. With a 35-13 record over the past three years (New England is only one win better), San Diego has made the playoffs twice in those three seasons and lost to inferior teams, the Jets in 2004 and Pats in 2006. No playoff wins despite a .729 winning percentage in the regular season. The last month doesn't help their outlook in any way. In fact, with all the mayhem, it'll be stunning if the Chargers can dig their way out of this horrible web of mismanagement to finally be a playoff factor next season.

My only advice? Interview Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan. It's insane this guy doesn't have a head-coaching job yet. The San Diego defense under Ryan would be even more hell-bent-for-leather next fall.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/02/13/marty/index.html

[reismark]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
This is a heartless, gutless, chicken-bleep move by San Diego.

Couldn't agree more. San Diego will regret this.

[Drake Tungsten]

Why? It's not like Martyball was ever going to get them a SuperBowl win.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Basically, and I hate to say this, but Eli Manning was right. Chargers have no class. If you are going to fire the guy, do it after the playoff loss. Don't wait until every other position is filled and then cut him loose, screwing him over in the process.

I'll never root for San Diego again

[q=Drake Tungsten]It's not like Martyball was ever going to get them a SuperBowl win.[/q]

Just like Peyton was never going to win a SuperBowl .

[Drake Tungsten]

There was still some hope for Manning. Schottenheimer, OTOH, is too far gone. He's been failing for so long that even he believes he's destined to fail at this point...

[Jaguar]

Marty should have played more MartyBall against the Patriots. Marty's problem is that he listens too much to his critics.

His backs were averaging six yards a carry, and he insisted on playing a balanced game. Just let LT and Turner run wild. It was clear that the Patriots' linebackers were too slow to catch them. (Slow linebackers is what killed them against the Colts, too. Good thing they have two first round draft picks to work on that.)

[Drake Tungsten]

Marty's problem is that he listens too much to his critics.

So we're in agreement then.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
There was still some hope for Manning. Schottenheimer, OTOH, is too far gone. He's been failing for so long that even he believes he's destined to fail at this point...

Like Elway

[-Jrabbit]

More news on interview candidates:

Norv Turner - yes
Mike Singletary - yes

Bill Parcells - no
Pete Carroll - no

[DanS]

The handwriting must have been on the wall for so many of his assistants to get other jobs. Perhaps this has been in the works for some time.

[Imran Siddiqui]

The only reason a lot of the assistants (aside from Cameron and Phillips) got jobs was because Schottenheimer let them interview. He knew he was lame duck with probably only one year left, so rather than screw over his assistants, he let them get interviews to move up (he could have denied them if he wanted).