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San Diego is now a lock to win Super Bowl XLII.
Chargers head coach Schottenheimer fired
ESPN.com news services
SAN DIEGO -- Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer was fired Monday night in a shocking move by team president Dean Spanos, who cited a "dysfunctional situation" between the coach and general manager A.J. Smith.
The move was first reported by ESPN's Chris Mortensen.
Less than a month after San Diego's NFL-best 14-2 season was wrecked in a playoff loss to New England, Spanos cited the exodus of both coordinators and other assistants in firing Schottenheimer, who had a year left on his contact.
"This decision was so hard because Marty has been both a friend and valued coach of our team," Spanos said in a statement. "But my first obligation is always to do what is in the best interest of our fans and the entire Charger organization. I must take whatever steps are necessary to deliver a Super Bowl trophy to San Diego. Events of the last month have now convinced me that it is not possible for our organization to function at a championship level under the current structure. On the contrary, and in the plainest possible language, we have a dysfunctional situation here. Today I am resolving that situation once and for all."
Mortensen reported that Spanos told Schottenheimer on Monday that it wasn't going to work between him and Smith.
Spanos indicated in the statement that the Chargers will pay Schottenheimer for the last year of his contract.
Three days after the Chargers' playoff meltdown Spanos decided that bringing Schottenheimer back for the final year of his contract gave San Diego its best chance to win.
"Our fans deserve to know what changed for me over the last month," Spanos said in the statement. "When I decided to move ahead with Marty Schottenheimer in mid-January, I did so with the expectation that the core of his fine coaching staff would remain intact. Unfortunately, that did not prove to be the case, and the process of dealing with these coaching changes convinced me that we simply could not move forward with such dysfunction between our head coach and general manager. In short, this entire process over the last month convinced me beyond any doubt that I had to act to change this untenable situation and create an environment where everyone at Charger Park would be pulling in the same direction and working at a championship level."
When the Chargers decided to bring him back, Schottenheimer raised eyebrows by declining the team's offer of a one-year extension for 2008 worth $4.5 million, with a $1 million buyout.
"Right now, I wasn't comfortable accepting it," Schottenheimer told The Associated Press shortly after the season. He would have earned more than $3 million in 2007.
With a regular-season record of 200-126-1 with Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego, Schottenheimer is the most successful coach never to have reached the Super Bowl.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2763552
San Diego is now a lock to win Super Bowl XLII.
Well, much like a race to take a vow of celibacy, Fillmoe has beaten me by a large margin.
Chargers this was a huge blunder no coaching staff and it's Feb.
Solid timing.
between Marty and AJ really must have been as bad as I heard. Parcells or Cowher would be a nice replacement. Ron Rivera maybe? I'm not too worried about this move. Spanos must have someone in mind.
Marty sucks in the playoffs, but damn do the Chargers really think that they are now going to be in a better position next year by completely overhauling the coaching staff?
Probably not because there isn't really anyone out there who can come in and make them any better than they are, but of course Charger fans will have pipedreams of getting Parcells and Cowher. That they lost the head coach and both coordinators is a big blow. But I'm sure TSA will be here in a minute to tell us how the Chargers could make XLII with Trent Dilfer, Ron Dayne and nine construction workers. Homervision lol.
Cowher could be considered a pipedream, but Parcells isn't too far fetched. Chow would be an interesting pic.
Wow. Parcells could easily get his third ring in San Diego. It would be like Phil Jackson going to the Lakers in 2000.
Could Parcells sign with someone immediately? Didn't he have a year left on his Cowboys' contract?
I've heard that AJ Smith fired Marty because of conflict amongst the coaching staff and players. If Smith can't get along with Marty, how is he going to get along with Parcells?
Still, that said, it's a perfect scenerio for Bill and enough of one where, if you're the Chargers owner, you think long and hard about firing Smith and hiring the Tuna as GM and coach. Even if it's just for two or three years, they'd likely be the favorites each year.
A smart coach knows this is a great "problem" to have. Chargers still have one of if not the best rosters in the NFL. Dipstick Shot was a lock to lose in the playoffs so no matter how you slice it it's a step up.
Yes i think they have someone in mind all the way.
I know Marty is hard to deal with, but I can't imagine that this is in the teams best interest.
It has to be someone with head coaching experience in the NFL.
Dennis Green? Are the Chargers who he thought they were?
No one else makes sense.
Rivera and Chow? Do you really want to hand a 14-2 team to a coach with no HC experience and who's never built a staff?
Cowher and Parcells? They would probably want more control than Smith would be willing to give.
Who else is there? Mariucci?
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Martz would make SD very, very scary and me very, very sad.
Last edited by DisgruntledLionFan#54,927; 02-13-2007 at 12:55 AM.
damn you JB..... you stole my thread...... i knew i should have made a simpler le
Too bad Jeff Fisher couldn't be had.
Gruden would be nice as well.
NFL Network said Martz, Mooch, Singletary, Grimm and Norv Turner.
LOL yes you should have!
I was going to start a new thread too until I realized what your le was about.
San Diego needs a playmaking wideout. That would make them unstoppable.
Imagine Randy Moss in Charger land.
Are the Chargers saying this, or are the analysts predicting this?
go ahead and hire mike martz if you want a horrible defense.
I guess Lovie Smith is a horrible defensive coach too, eh?
Well, the D did give up 29 to the Colts after talking for two weeks about how nobody thought they were worth a damn when that ended up being true. And playing in the NFC North does wonders to stuff their stats.
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