Posted on 02/12/2007 7:12:58 PM PST by Terpfen
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."
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Well, we'll see. All of Notre Dame's successful coaches won a National Championship in their third year as coach. Charlie is up this year.
Phillips and Smith are friends. Had Phillips stuck around, he would have been the next head coach of the Chargers.
So now the Chargers have lost both coordinators, and their head coach? Wow, good luck with that
It is a shame. Smith's egomania is showing. If the Chargers tank next season, Smith will be shown the door himself.
It will be Norv or some other coordinator. Maybe Rex Ryan from Baltimore. Pete Carroll is through with the NFL. He loves the USC job too much.
How do you feel about Tiki Barber quitting??
That sounds a lot like what happened between Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson.
Dallas had won Super Bowls and was still a good team..but the two just couldn't work together...so Johnson left.
Even though the Cowboys won one under Switzer, the team never got back to greatness.
However...I have to remind myself that when Dallas was winning all of those Super Bowls...there was no salary cap...
That salary cap has really hurt the Cowboys all of these years.
Rex Ryan is a possibility, but I would think that San Diego would prefer keeping their offensive system as intact as possible, which means bringing in Norv Turner, who uses the Air Coryell system.
As for Carroll, I don't believe for a minute that he wouldn't return to the NFL. The reason for his mediocre NFL record is that he coached for teams with horrible GMs who simply did not give him any sort of talent. Look up New England's 1998 draft roster and you'll see what I mean. If Carroll is offered full control of an NFL team, you can bet he'd leave USC. He almost left USC for the Dolphins a month ago--but didn't, because we intended to give more authority to Randy Mueller.
*sigh* I can dream can't I?
Too bad for Phillips. He's sold his soul to Jerry and T.O.
Dreams are all you have at this point, I'm sorry to say. Head Owner Coach Jones is intent on captaining the Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory, and his ego won't allow him to back off on football operations, or even to sell the team, before winning a championship. Problem is, Head Owner Coach Jones sucks at football decisions.
You'd better get ready, because Wade Phillips sure as heck isn't running the Cowboys.
I follow USC football closely and Pete is not interested. He is going to make college football history coaching the Trojans. We have not seen the best from them yet. The Trojans are going to be frightening next year.
USC definitely has a good incoming class, but it's silly to think that Carroll wouldn't want to prove that he can win in the pros.
Lol interesting thinking. I could never figure out why the Giants hired Coughlin in the first place.
Hope all this crap doesn't cause the Bears to lose a coordinator.
OK, I thought Jerry Jones was an idiot. This guy gives Marty an extension, allows both Cameron and Phillips to leave, and then- THEN decides it'd be good to start fresh. Oh, what a mess.
Giant fans are like Bears fans and will make it extremely hard for any qb to succeed there.
Silly for you. Quite a few sucessful college coaches have gone on to regret coaching in the NFL. You don't mess with job satisfaction and a good thing. Pete has said "In the NFL you get one 1st round draft pick each year at USC I get 7 or 8 each recruiting season." His last 5 recruting classes have been stellar. He maybe the new Bear Bryant or Rockne.
Many of the players liked Marty.
The owners are not well liked here.
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