Feb 13, 2007 0
Given the circumstances, Marty had to go, and Norv has to come
Poor old Marty Schottenheimer has the most career coaching wins of any head coach NOT to play in the Super Bowl. His Chargers were 14-2, the top team in the NFL heading into the playoffs. They were #1 in points scored and only six teams gave up fewer points.
And I totally understand why he was fired yesterday.
The fact is Schottenheimer was more of a father figure for the Chargers than anything else, and ownership had serious questions about his ability to lead this team on the field, on offense or defense. This move had to be done, and the timing was as good as any after the team lost both of their (excellent) coordinators as well as TEs coach Rob Chudzinski, the new OC in Cleveland, and LBs coach Greg Manusky, the new DC in San Francisco. Had he stayed, his rocky relationship with GM A.J. Smith would have likely exploded, and the team would have imploded. Schottenheimer was also trying to hire his brother as DC, which was not the right move to make given the timing and circumstances.
There are a few candidates who will stabilize the values of their key players, most notably Norv Turner, who coached in [...]
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