Marty Fired!

[packers11]

www.espn.com

BREAKING NEWS Alert
Chargers Fire Schottenheimer
The Chargers fired Marty Schottenheimer on Monday, reports ESPN's Chris Mortensen. Schottenheimer led San Diego to a 14-2 regular-season record, only to lose in the AFC divisional playoffs.

Updated: Feb. 12, 2007, 9:13 PM ET
Sources: Chargers head coach Schottenheimer firedESPN.com news services


Sources close to Marty Schottenheimer and the San Diego Chargers said the coach was fired by the team Monday, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported.

Schottenheimer and Chargers general manager A.J. Smith have been having disagreements over staffing after losing a number of assistants. Dean Spanos, the team president, told Schottenheimer on Monday that it wasn't going to work between him and Smith.

Three days after the Chargers melted down in a stunning 24-21 playoff loss to New England, Spanos decided that bringing Schottenheimer back for the final year of his contract gave San Diego its best chance to win.

Schottenheimer, though, declined 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.

[Bretsky]

WOW; that's all I have to say

Almost have to wonder if there wasn't some serious chemistry issues between the coach and players.

[pittstang5]

WOW!

Maybe SD will want to hire is brother Kurt for the job....one can only hope.

[Rastak]

Real nice, wait until all jobs are filled THEN fire him......

[packers11]

Real nice, wait until all jobs are filled THEN fire him......

yea that really was an a**hole move... Now he can't go look for another HC'ing job... Thats low...

[digitaldean]

Real nice, wait until all jobs are filled THEN fire him......

The Spanos' family seems like they WANT to sabotage their team. The team loses 2 assistants to boot.

Well, maybe there's a chance for Shermy yet.

[PackerPro42]

That's a strange move considering that they were offering an extension to him. I guess the all time choker finally got booted. To bad they had to do it with all the major coaching positions filled.

[b bulldog]

Maybe now that the college recruits have their names on the dotted line, some big name coaches could be talked into going to the next level.

[SD GB fan]

wow, a bit late dont ya think? now, marty has no where to go and the chargers dont have a lot of candidates to get. lose-lose situation. the team is already behind other teams for 07. :roll:

[MadtownPacker]

Enter Mike Sherman!!!

What a stupid thing to do at this point.

TT should call Ladainian and ask him to hold out for a trade. :idea:

[Bretsky]

At this point, common logic would dictate that the replacement is already on that staff

[SD GB fan]

i think hiring the D coordinators from PIT or BALT could be the best moves. with marty and phillips gone, their 3-4 defense is in danger, even though they have superior players in those positions.

[SD GB fan]

At this point, common logic would dictate that the replacement is already on that staff

not sure about that. they lost their HC, O and D coordinators, TE coach, LB coach. they promoted RB to O coordinator BEFORE marty got fired, so that might change again. there sure a lot of holes to fill for the coaching staff.

[Brando19]

WTF? This is some suprising news before bedtime!

[MacCool606]

I'll bet ol Kurt is just giddy over this. Now at the Schottenheimer Easter gathering, he will finally be in front of one of his brothers in the line for the ham. Provided the Packers don't pull his rug out from under his feet.

[Packnut]

Schefter just stated on NFL network that Marty wanted to bring his brother in and that might have been the final nail in his coffin. Funny that EVERYONE in the damn league knows Marty's bro is a total idiot EXCEPT Mr Thompson and Mr McCarthy. :lol:

[MacCool606]

I suppose if his name was Smth or Jones, it might have worked.

[packers11]

Schefter just stated on NFL network that Marty wanted to bring his brother in and that might have been the final nail in his coffin. Funny that EVERYONE in the damn league knows Marty's bro is a total idiot EXCEPT Mr Thompson and Mr McCarthy. :lol:

WHY THE HELL!!! NOOO!!! SD TAKE HIM BACK!!!! The packer fans dream just gunned down... :cry:

[Packnut]

Schefter just stated on NFL network that Marty wanted to bring his brother in and that might have been the final nail in his coffin. Funny that EVERYONE in the damn league knows Marty's bro is a total idiot EXCEPT Mr Thompson and Mr McCarthy. :lol:

WHY THE HELL!!! NOOO!!! SD TAKE HIM BACK!!!! The packer fans dream just gunned down... :cry:

SD's GM said NO to Kurt- he's a smart man! :lol:

[Kiwon]

Anyone know what is the reaction of the San Diego fans? 14-2 is a great record, especially after all the losing years they had.

[PackerPro42]

I don't know, maybe they thought that Marty was not going to be as successful without his OC and DC. I don't lik the fashion they fired him in, but you have to do what is right for the franchise.

[Rastak]

PFT.com is speculating that a deal is already in place for Pete Carroll. Their thinking is, they were waiting until after the national signing day. They further said that why the other USC dude (not Kiffin) turned down the Raiders job, he's got a nod and a wink that he get's the USC job.


Interesting conspiricy theory of sorts.

[swede]

PFT.com is speculating that a deal is already in place for Pete Carroll. Their thinking is, they were waiting until after the national signing day. They further said that why the other USC dude (not Kiffin) turned down the Raiders job, he's got a nod and a wink that he get's the USC job.


Interesting conspiricy theory of sorts.

Carroll seems to have the world by the balls at USC. Blue chippers accept invitations to join the team as walk-ons over there and stack up like cordwood waiting for their chance to play. Hard to believe he'd walk away from that job, but if ever there was a tempting HC position this one at SD seems to be it.

If this is true, what a deal for Carroll. Hand him the keys to a 14-2 team that simply needs a shot of confidence and renewed sense of purpose.

[red]

they keep getting the first name wrong

its gotta be kurt, please be kurt

why can't it ever be our guy?

[red]

PFT.com is speculating that a deal is already in place for Pete Carroll. Their thinking is, they were waiting until after the national signing day. They further said that why the other USC dude (not Kiffin) turned down the Raiders job, he's got a nod and a wink that he get's the USC job.


Interesting conspiricy theory of sorts.

even after national signing day. if carroll pulls that kind of crap, i bet they would still loose a lot of those signees

[superfan]

Maybe these guys will give us their site now for our Shoddyheimer.

http://fireschottenheimer.com/

[red]

lol, this explains it all as to why he was fired

from pft

ANOTHER INTERESTING CHARGERS THEORY

A reader raised a great point with us this morning regarding the possible manner in which the Marty Schottenheimer termination went down.

Five days ago, the Chargers lost defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. So the team was suddenly scrambling to find a replacement, only a couple of days after no one thought Phillips would be leaving for Dallas.

What if, then, Marty wanted to hire his brother, Kurt Schottenheimer, to make the jump from the Packers to replace Wade?

Kurt has coached with Marty in the past, but had never joined him in San Diego. It could be that G.M. A.J. Smith was staunchly and continuously opposed to Marty's desire to bring his brother to town, and that the issue finally came to a head when Marty found himself without a defensive coordinator, and very much interested in giving his brother a shot at the job.

That's the kind of dispute that might have prompted the kind of camel's-back-breaking knock-down, drag-out between Marty and A.J. that would prompt team president Dean Spanos to finally and permanently separate them.

Or maybe this was an inside job all along, and the Chargers were going to fire Marty after Pete Carroll signed his last class of recruits at USC.

Either way, it's fun stuff to ponder during one of the rare times of the year when things momentarily have ssssslowed down in the NFL.

----------------------

damnit, we might have almost gotten rid of him

[prsnfoto]

I hope they end up 6-10 next year, can you imagine how many teams would die to have a coach who will win 10,11,12,14 games a year perhaps Detroit. I realize every team wants to win a SB, but the guy is not an asshat like Dennis Green who has offfield issues, hes a standup guy and in the end isn't winning games consistently better than sucking? If it was so easy to get to and win SB's why hasn't Parcells done it again? Plus I agree we could have gotten rid of Kurt God Dammit!

[privatepacker]

I believe that KFFL had something to the effect that Marty was trying to hire his brother and that was the final straw. Also heard that Rivera and Sherman were possibilities for the job.

[wist43]

As a Charger fan (2nd to the Packers - I was born in SD) I have no problem with firing Schottenheimer.

If nothing else, he's proven two overriding things:

1) He has the character and organizational skills necessary to build a winning program at the NFL level.

2) He doesn't have the character necessary to carry a dominant team to a championship.

Firing him makes sense... it's doubtful he would ever have been able to lead them to a championship. He simply doesn't have what it takes to win it all.

Great rebuilding coach - lousy championship coach.

[Merlin]

I am not a Chargers "Fan" but I have never had anything against them. I also enjoyed the Dan Fouts era immensely. I like Tomlinson and it seems to me to be a classy organization. Bill Cowher needed a lot of playoff games and a couple of super bowls (and some luck) to finally win one. Was he a horrible coach? No. Marty has done a very good job with several organizations unlike Cowher who was with just one as far as I remember. Firing him to me seems like a pissing in the snow contest. Someone got their panties in a bunch. If he wasn't a good coach, why is he so successful? Even Mike Holmgren is 1-2 in the super bowl with numerous disastrous playoff defeats.

I agree that the wrong Schottenheimer got fired.

HIS NAME IS KURT DAMNIT!

[theeaterofshades]

Hopefully another team will make a last minute firing, hire Marty, and he can still bring Kurt along with him... PLEASE!

[mraynrand]

If it was so easy to get to and win SB's why hasn't Parcells done it again?

The final analysis on Parcells will ultimately be that he couldn't win without Belechick. Period. He NEVER won the SB without B.B. - Belichick designed the defenses that stifled great offenses - S.F. and Buffalo in the SB (that was a great scheme, BTW, if you have a chance to watch that game - like Penn State beating Miami in '87). Belechick could very well be the all time best coach EVER - hell, he can win even when humping the married secretary. Bottom line - Parcells was no better in Dallas than Mike Sherman in GB, and B.B. and Lombardi could duke it out for best NFL coach EVER.

[hoosier]

If it was so easy to get to and win SB's why hasn't Parcells done it again?

The final analysis on Parcells will ultimately be that he couldn't win without Belechick. Period. He NEVER won the SB without B.B. - Belichick designed the defenses that stifled great offenses - S.F. and Buffalo in the SB (that was a great scheme, BTW, if you have a chance to watch that game - like Penn State beating Miami in '87). Belechick could very well be the all time best coach EVER - hell, he can win even when humping the married secretary. Bottom line - Parcells was no better in Dallas than Mike Sherman in GB, and B.B. and Lombardi could duke it out for best NFL coach EVER.

Didn't Parcells win in NY before the real Bill came along?

[KYPack]

Pretend you are a team owner,
President,
Or beleaguered GM, (think Millen, no, don’t think Millen) on a consistently losing NFL Franchise

One of ‘em has got to do it.

Hire Marty. He'll turn your pathetic team around. Run off the underachievers. Get aggressive players who want to win. Get 'em in shape and hit anything that moves. Play tough ball and never quit. Run the football and play sound defense.

And that team will win.

And make the play-offs. Marty doesn't know how to coach in the play-offs. So the team will lose to a team with a lesser record in the first (or maybe second if yer lucky) round.

So what you gotta do is fire Marty the day after you qualify for the play-offs. The entire league will proclaim you a traitorous fool. But you will be making the proper move. M Schott is a great coach to turn a team into a winner, but he is lost in post-season play. So hire a Parcells-type guy as a consultant, let him lay in the weeds all year, then plug him in come play-off time.

If it fails, you will be fired and proclaimed a fool. If it works, you will be considered a genius, probably your only chance to make that status.

If you are a bewildered GM, what to you have to lose?

[wist43]

If I were the GM of a franchise that is just beginning the rebuilding process, I would hire Schottenheimer in a minute.

But his track record says he can only get you so far... let him rebuild the team, then move on after he invariably fails in the playoffs.

As far as rebuilding though... Schottenheimer would be a great choice.

[swede]

I began to compare Sherman to Schottenheimer when it seemed apparent that Sherman was skilled at compiling a .750 regular season record but poor at preparing his teams for the playoffs.

Schottenheimer seems like a fine coach. I'd be more prepared to accept him as a head coach now (after the SD stint) than I would have before. If his staff hadn't fallen apart he'd still have a job and they'd be contenders.

How sad for San Diego. They had a good thing rolling and now the whole coaching staff is Schott to hell.

Unless the Carroll thing has some truth to it they will have slim pickings for coaching candidates.

[prsnfoto]

If I were the GM of a franchise that is just beginning the rebuilding process, I would hire Schottenheimer in a minute.

But his track record says he can only get you so far... let him rebuild the team, then move on after he invariably fails in the playoffs.

As far as rebuilding though... Schottenheimer would be a great choice.

I understand what you are saying but is Tony Dungy a failure and fired if he didn't win this year the Colts have been a regular season powerhouse and favorite for like five years now. A lot has to fall in place to get to the SB had he not run into BB he probably would've won this year. It would be a different story if he would've went 14-2 in the NFC and not got there, the more I think about it Fire Lovie.

[mraynrand]

Didn't Parcells win in NY before the real Bill came along?

Nope. from the official Belichick biography (minus the sex):

"In 1979, Belichick joined Ray Perkins' staff with the New York Giants as a defensive assistant and special teams coach, launching a 12-year tenure with the Giants. After the 1980 campaign, he drew the added responsibility of coaching the Giants linebackers. In 1983, he began coordinating the defense on Bill Parcells' staff and continued coaching the linebackers, a unit that would become known as one of the most dominant groups of all-time. He was officially appointed defensive coordinator in 1985, a position he held for the next six seasons. During his time as the Giants' defensive signal caller, his units were never ranked lower than 11th in the NFL and finished as high as second in the league three times, including the Super Bowl seasons of 1986 and 1990. His contributions with the Giants throughout the 1980s brought him national recognition as one of the best young assistant coaches in the NFL. His reward came just nine days after Super Bowl XXV when the Cleveland Browns hired him as their head coach."
------------------

In summary: Belichick is the reason for Parcell's success. Parcells won nothing without Bill Belichick.

[wist43]

Some are bringing up Shula, Landry, Dungy, et al... as examples of coaches who initially failed, but then ultimately won the big one...

I don't put Schottenheimer in their company... Schottenheimer is in a catagory all by himself - and his history doesn't run over a couple of year period - it runs over decades.

Schottenheimer simply doesn't have the psychological makeup, or game day skills required to win the big one - I think he's proven that over the course of 25 years.

I don't know what it is about him... he seems like he would be a solid leader, he's smart, he knows football inside and out - it's just one of those inexplicable things.

[digitaldean]

Packersnews.com has a report saying that Marty was fired due to his wanting to fire brother Kurt!

If only the GM and owner were on vacation, we could've been rid of him!
______
Report: Schottenheimer fired over plans to hire brother

Press-Gazette

Wondering why the San Diego Chargers so abruptly fired coach Marty Schottenheimer on Monday? He tried to hire his brother, Kurt — the Green Bay Packers’ defensive backs coach — as defensive coordinator.

That was the last straw for owner Alex Spanos and General Manager A.J. Smith, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported today.

In a meeting early Monday afternoon, they told Schottenheimer they didn’t approve of his plans to interview his brother. Schottenheimer, in turn, insisted he could hire his staff as he saw fit.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Monday, Spanos fired Schottenheimer, who wasn’t getting along with Smith.

Since the end of a season in which they went 14-2 and won the AFC West but lost at home in their first playoff game, the Chargers have lost their offensive and defensive coordinators, their linebackers and tight ends coaches and their assistant strength and conditioning coach.

Kurt Schottenheimer, often criticized for his unit’s performance, is going into his third season with the Packers. He spent the 2004 season in Green Bay, then was fired by former coach Mike Sherman, then was rehired by new coach Mike McCarthy last season.
______


http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070213/PKR01/70213086/1989

[mraynrand]

"His reward came just nine days after Super Bowl XXV when the Cleveland Browns hired him as their head coach"

I thought someone might read this line and find it funny. When I moved to Cleveland I thought I was being punished.

[KYPack]

Some are bringing up Shula, Landry, Dungy, et al... as examples of coaches who initially failed, but then ultimately won the big one...

I don't put Schottenheimer in their company... Schottenheimer is in a catagory all by himself - and his history doesn't run over a couple of year period - it runs over decades.

Schottenheimer simply doesn't have the psychological makeup, or game day skills required to win the big one - I think he's proven that over the course of 25 years.

I don't know what it is about him... he seems like he would be a solid leader, he's smart, he knows football inside and out - it's just one of those inexplicable things.

Marty is too consistent.

The guys that win in the play-offs adjust the teams focus and game planning of their teams. Schottenheimer doesn't have that in his make-up. The other coaches know exactly what he's gonna do and outflank him.

There are other coaches that fall into this category. Great during the season, but they are not play-off guys.

Chuck Knox
Jerry Glanville
Jim Mora
Mike Sherman
Marty

Good coaches, but not play-off coaches.

[ND72]

I think it's funny that part of the reason the Chargers decided to fire Marty, was his desire to have his Brother Kurt as his Defensive Coordinator....DAMN YOU SAN DIEGO...

[GBRulz]

ND, those were my exact thoughts as I read that.... "DAMN YOU SAN DIEGO"

[J-Rok]

Shit. I just heard that on ESPN, too. Wow. San Diego fires their coach for wanting to make our Defensive Backs coach their defensive cordinator. Wowowowow.

Hey Mike and Ted, I think that's a little hint that our DB coach blows. Get rid of him.

[KYPack]

Shit. I just heard that on ESPN, too. Wow. San Diego fires their coach for wanting to make our Defensive Backs coach their defensive cordinator. Wowowowow.

Hey Mike and Ted, I think that's a little hint that our DB coach blows. Get rid of him.

This is the second time that Marty has been fired from a HC job over his brother Kurt. After the Browns '88 season, Art (the Meddler) Modell insisted Marty fire several assistants, including Marty's younger brother Kurt. Marty refused, for essentially the same reasons he just went thru at SD, and was canned.

Why couldn't he have just a little more juice after all these years?

[red]

COME ON TT!!!!!!!!!!

what does that tell you about our secondary coach. a head coach, and a good head coach, of a good team not too far away from the super bowl, was fired for thinking about bringing in our guy

[Kiwon]

It's hard to read TT. If the Packers had gone 1-3 or 0-4 the last four games then Kurt S. would probably be gone. But the fact that they won those games thanks largely due to the defense makes a shake up less likely IMHO.

Al Harris and Charles Woodson had arguable Pro Bowl seasons and some of the credit will go to Shotty. The Packers might end up being victims of their own success.

[oregonpackfan]

Let's get back to the record of 14-2. How many teams have compiled a record equal to or superior than 14-2? Not a whole heck of a lot.

I can't help but feel the Chargers' owner has shot himself and the entire organization in the foot.

As far as the playoff loss to the Patriots, Schottenheimer did not:

--muff the punt return leading to the Pats recovering the fumble and eventually scoring.

--making the interception and then fumbling the ball away.

--having a boneheaded unsportsmanlike penalty called on the DB when the Pats would have had to punt on 4th down. With the penalty, the Pats got a 1st down and eventually scored.

No, the players made all those terrible mistakes, not the coach.

Frankly, I would love to see Marty as the Packers HC.

As teams often take 2 full seasons to adapt to their new HC and his new assistants, I predict the Chargers will finish no better than 8-8 this season.

[Fritz]

Yhis whole thing about being good but not being able to win the big one is a sham. Bill Cowher was a "he can't win the big one" coach - then he won. What, did he suddenly get better? Tony Dungy - same. And Dean Smith was a long time icon in North Carolina but he couldn't get NC over the top. H got the same tag - but then he won the championship.

It's just a label and an attempt to categorize and oversimplify a complex subject.

And by the way, I too had hopes that Kurt would be gone. But there's still hope. If Shermy gets the job, the San Diego GM would love nothing more than to spit in Marty's face by allowing Shermy to hire Kurt as DC.

At least, that sounds good to me.

[KYPack]

Now comes ANOTHER slant on the Marty firing.

PFT ( I know, I know) has a report that seems to ring true. Marty wanting to interview Kurt was only a partial reason for the split. It seems that Marty wanted to give other assistants permission to interview for other gigs.

The speculation is that Cameron and Phillips were wanting to talk to some of their buddies on the Charger staff. Marty felt that these guys deserved a chance to better themselves and wanted to give them a chance to leave the sinking (& shrinking ) Bolt staff. Schottenheimer also wanted to ionterview his bro for the DC job.

Smith and Spanos panicked and denied the permission and canned Marty.

This makes sense and would seems to be a more sensible scenario.

Fritz, I know what you are saying, but Marty just isn't a big game, play-off coach. He panicked in this year's play-offs and his ill-fated challenge late in the game was another dagger in his team's heart.

[Zool]

Shotts has never even been to a SB. Cower went to 2 in 14 years.

[Fritz]

I respect your opinion, KY, and I know Marty threw a bad challenge, But I would contend that he's capable of winning the big one. It's not just his coaching that lost that game. Players dropped interceptions. Stuff happens.

[woodbuck27]

Enter Mike Sherman!!!

What a stupid thing to do at this point.

TT should call Ladainian and ask him to hold out for a trade. :idea:

http://nfl-rumors.aolsportsblog.com/2007/02/13/martz-mariucci-sherman-in-chargers-sights/

Martz, Mariucci, Sherman in Chargers' Sights?
Posted Feb 13th 2007 6:56AM by Michael David Smith
Filed under: Chargers, AFC West, NFL Rumors, NFL Coaching

With Marty Schottenheimer out in San Diego, we've got some potential replacements listed here and more here.

But three other candidates, all former NFL head coaches, are likely candidates as well, according to NFL Network's Adam Schefter:

Mike Martz. As the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, Martz didn't exactly light up the scoreboard last season, but then again, these are the Lions we're talking about. In St. Louis, Martz's offenses were great. Martz ball is quite a bit different than Martyball, but it's intriguing to think about what Martz could do with Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Steve Mariucci. Currently an NFL Network analyst, Mariucci had a good deal of success in San Francisco but significantly less in Detroit. Mariucci gets along well with veteran players, which would make him a good fit to join a team that thinks its current personnel is in great shape.

Mike Sherman. In Green Bay most people thought Sherman was good with the coaching part but bad with the personnel part. Since the Chargers already have the personnel side in place, Sherman might be a good fit.