Wow, AJ Smith really messed him up by letting all of the other jobs fill before he fired him. If that's the case Smith is going to have a real problem moving forward. Marty is well-liked in league circles.
Man if you were gonna fire him just get it over with with the market full of candidates. Bad job by the chargers. I dont think he should have been fired. Who r they gonna target at this point. They wouldnt go after Brian Schottenheimer would they?
I would think Ron Rivera or someone like that. Everyone was begging them to fire him back in mid-January. They had to have had a very recent run-in.
Wow, that is amazing - what a royal screw job. Marty should have taken the one year extension when offered, so they would be on the hook for two years, not one. Not being revisionist (I thought them firing him a month ago was reasonable), but doing it now that all of the other jobs are gone just stinks.
Here's an interesting senario. Marty joins Herm's staff as an assistant.. I always thought the Chargers were a class organization. Guess I was wrong huh....
The only thing I can think of would be Smith wanting Ron Rivera, but not wanting him enough to have to get in a bidding war with the Cowboys. If Rivera went to Dallas, maybe Smith gives Martyball one final shot, and if not, this happens. This post has been based on nothing.
Statement from Chargers President Dean Spanos “Today I made an extremely difficult decision: Marty Schottenheimer is no longer the head coach of the San Diego Chargers. “This decision was so hard because Marty has been both a friend and valued coach of our team. 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. “My decision means that our organization will be obligated to pay the last year of Marty Schottenheimer’s contract and will begin an intense search for a new head coach at this relatively late date, but these are sacrifices that I believe are necessary to give the Chargers the best possible chance to win on the field this season. “Our fans deserve to know what changed for me over the last month. 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. I expect exactly that from our entire Charger organization in 2007.” That's a pretty strong statement.
Oh, I see - other teams wanting your coordinators to be head coach is somehow Marty's fault. What a crock. Seems to me that either LTS is right and it's an out-and-out lie, or Smith was planning on dumping Marty a year from now for Cameron or Phillips, and has now been burned.
I can understand him being fired now that the coordinators are gone, but like you said, shame on them for thinking they were going to have the luxury of having those coaches on their staff. If they were that dependent on the coordinators, they should have given them hefty raises, or fired marty in january to ensure they get who they wanted. The idea behind this is very flawed. (Now watch them get Cowher or Parcells :rofl2
I would be very surprised if that happened. I A.J. Smith and Marty had such a bad relationship he wouldn't just go and hire his son.
Mike Singletary IMO is the best candidate. He knows the 3-4, hes young, and he really just fits for a loaded team that happens to be very young. I think they might have more trouble filling their DC position. Rivera isn't a fit because he's a 4-3 cover 2 guy. Ted Cotrell? Too much of a retread maybe, but who knows. Believe me, AJ Smith is one of the best GMs in football. I doubt they're lost right now.
Let's hope the ending to this story is Ron Rivera quickly being hired as the new head coach so Shottenjunior doesn't get back in the mix.
Too bad Cameron left. This was a good move. I was thinking they should have fired him right after that loss anyway.
