2007 NFL Off-Season Discussion Thread (Including Vick's troubles) (1 Viewer)

[Alex-C]

Thank the maker, Marty is history. That is all I have to say about that.

 

[Tim Glover]

wow....Can't believe Marty got fired. Unreal...

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The timing of Marty's firing is really bizarre. After losing their OC and DC, and with the other top candidates already gone, who are the Chargers going to find to hire at this late date? Ron Rivera may get the job by default.

Despite the postseason failure, I'm still surprised a coach who went 14-2 got fired. A.J. Smith had better hope the team does not take a step back next season, or he will be the next person in San Diego looking for a new job.

 

[Malcolm R]

Why doesn't Jones just coach the team himself? That's really what he wants. Is there some NFL rule that owners can't coach their own team?

 

[Alex-C]

Yea Scott I know what you mean, but after his top notch DC and OC left, what was going to happen ? Marty trains two new ones then leaves in 1 year. Better to start anew. And I do think the Chargers will take a step back next year. They might make the playoffs. I dont know about Denver or KC. Oakland is gonzo. Wildcard may be hard to make. They still have a ton of talent incl the MVP but I expect a step back next year (certainly no 14-2).

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The problem I have with the move is that this was a championship caliber team, so taking a step back at this point in the team's development makes little sense. Spanos said that he was only comfortable bringing Marty back with his top-notch coaching staff. However, he had to anticipate that those coaches would be hot commodities in the offseason. If he was going to agree to let Schottenheimer go, he should have done it immediately after the season, when the Chargers could have possibly retained either Cameron and Phillips as the new head coach and probably could have kept most of the staff intact.

Instead, the team now has to scramble to put together an entire coaching staff at a very late date, when most of the good candidates -- including coordinators for the new head coach -- are already locked up.

This has the potential to completely ruin a good football team, and that's a shame.

 

[Johnny Angell]

You've got it exactly right. The time for firing the coach was after losing to NE. If you think so much of your coaching staff, why not make one of them the head coach? Now both coordinators are gone to head coaching jobs, other prime prospects have been hired by other teams. Other Charger coaches have already left.

Marty was a lame duck, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know your other coaches are going to be looking for jobs. They picked the worst time to do this, and I'm not a fan of Marty. It's lame excuse to say the departure of the coaching staff is the reason for the firing.

Of course, how do you fire a 14-2 head coach? Well, he's 5-13 in the playoffs, he's lost 6 playoff games in a row. His teams have lost the opening playoff game 9 times. Four times he's had the number one AFC seed, and not advanced to the SB. You can say he's had some bad luck, but that exceeds bad luck. He's a regular season winner, not a championship coach. I don't know why, but look at his results.

I've been reading the SD paper online, and they have been anointing Smith as the true architect of the team. Most of the top talent they have, he's acquired. They have a piss-pot full of players already signed up for several years. They are well positioned to take several runs at the SB.

I should say were well positioned. This really puts next season in question. I would have fired Marty after the NE loss, but not now. Combine this coaching change with the fact that how often can you expect to go 14-2? Maybe they can talk Parcels out of retirement.

 

[Malcolm R]

Even though "retired," isn't Parcells still attached to Dallas for the next season (he had a year left on his contract) ? Not to mention he'd just be trading one prima-donna player (TO) for another (Merriman).

 

[Trey Fletcher]

Unless I've missed some really big news, Merriman does not belong in the same sentence as TO. Merriman was caught cheating, but he's not the clubhouse cancer/distraction/"I love me some me" prima-donna that is TO.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Yes, its unfair to lump Merriman in with TO. I've read in the SD paper that he has agreed with the new "Merriman" rule regarding the ProBowl. Apart from the steroid issue, I've never heard of him being a distraction to the team.

Let's face it, TO is in a league of his own.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Yes. In order to hire either Parcells or Cowher, an interested team would need to get a release agreement from Dallas or Pittsburgh, respectively. That release would not come cheap. Tampa did this when they hired Gruden away from Oakland, and the price was some high draft picks (I think a couple first rounders, but I'm too lazy to look it up). Both coaches are free and clear in 2008.

Denny Green's not doing anything.

 

[Matt Stryker]

While I agree that this was an incredibly boneheaded move by the Chargers at this stage of the offseason, is it possible that a few coaches who maybe shied away from other NFL opportunities (the Dolphins perhaps) might be a bit more interested coaching a loaded Chargers team than a perennial also-ran? I'm thinking Carroll, Stoops, and the other usual cast of characters.

This year seems to have the most firings, and yet the coaches pool seems shallower than ever. Marty wasn't the greatest, but they could have done well for the next year and possibly groomed a successor in the new OC/DC.

 

[Shane Martin]

Incredibly bad timing by the Chargers. It was going to happen sooner or later but it puts the Chargers behind the 8 ball because if they stink it up next year, guess who gets blamed?

 

[Patrick_S]

I'm thinking not a chance for the first one, no way in hell for the second.

The only way Carroll leaves USC is if the behind closed doors shenanigans are worse then has already been reported and NCAA is moving in. Then he might bail to escape the situation, other then that he's not going to leave USC anytime soon for the NFL.

From what I have read in the papers Stoops took himself out of consideration for the Dallas job so I doubt the Chargers interest him also.

 

[Shane Martin]

Stoops would definitely not go. He is being paid like royalty and has it too easy right now.

Carroll might as eluded to the situation above.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I cannot see Carroll leaving USC either, unless they get slapped by the NCAA... and I doubt the NCAA will go after them. They almost never go after the big fish (Alabama being the one exception I can think of).

 

[RobertR]

Yes, it's very bad timing, but obviously he decided that the team will be better off in the long run. Time will tell if he's right.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I can see Carroll leaving USC. It was reported that the reason Steve Sarkisian turned down the Raiders job was because he was basically promised that he'd be the next USC coach and that it could come sooner rather than later. That's also reportedly how Kiffin ended up with the Oakland job, he was free to take it knowing that Sark was the next in line of succession.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Me neither.

RE: Marty
Bad bad timing. What is the deal with the coaching pool this year?

 

[Brandon_T]

Don't be surprised if it is someone like Mooch or Jim Mora Jr. On a separate note, Dre Bly has asked for a trade from the Lions. Good riddance. Good luck to the Lions of getting any value out of that cry baby.