Chargers fire Schottenheimer
February 13th, 2007Wow, lead your team to an NFL-best 14-2 record, and get canned. That’s what happened to former San Diego Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer last night.
3 Responses to “Chargers fire Schottenheimer”
There is a management problem there, not a coaching problem. How can you let your offensive AND defensive cordinator leave without trying to offer something significant for them to stay. I know that the head coaching market was wide open this year, but management is responsible for keeping the talent together. In the words of Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire, “Show me the money”.
Ah, the wonderful world of sports. Do you want to win, or do you want to be in control? Few owners/university presidents have the best of both.
I’m speculating that Marty was daring Smith to fire him, knowing that he was the missing link to get them to the playoffs. Smith couldn’t stand Marty’s attitude, so he’s willing to lose next season, IMO, just so that Marty can’t being Marty in SD. Don’t really know which is the nose and which is the face, but something has definitely been cut simply out of spite.
I feel sorry for the players.
I forever lost respect for Schottenheimer after the 11/16/98 Monday Night Football game. You wouldn’t remember this game unless you are a Broncos or Chiefs fan (for the record, I am the former for life). The Broncos’ TE Shannon Sharpe was at the top of his game (at his position and his infamous verbal assault). It was in the glory days of Elway, Sharpe, Terrell Davis, Ed McCaffrey, and others(as if those weren’t enough!). Sigh… but I digress. Sorry. Derrick Thomas was the Chief’s star linebacker.
Sharpe wasted no time getting under Thomas’ skin. And Thomas rose to the occasion. As the game progressed, Thomas fell apart and began an escalation of penalty perpetration the likes of which has never before or after been seen. I haven’t checked the stats lately, but I believe the Chiefs still hold the record for most penalties in a MNF game.
Watching Sharpe destroy Thomas like that was a beautiful and terrible thing. The Chiefs resorted to the cheapest, lowest kinds of fouling. And Schottenheimer did nothing to stop it. He did nothing. Just sat back and let his team fall apart. I lost respect for him that night, and I’ve never been able to get over it.
Reminiscing about the Broncos gives me warm fuzzies, but that game does not. It was a terrible thing to witness the destruction of one man’s psyche at the hands of another. And, I feel like a hypocrit for not being able to forgive Schottenheimer and forget it. How many times has Christ forgiven me for my lapses in judgment, and I can’t forgive a man for one incident? And, in case anybody was going to point it out, I am not oblivious to Sharpe’s role as the evil instigator, either.
Is that behavior justified, is it just part of the game? I think not. Just one of the many reasons why I love and hate professional sports.