The Chargers’ Coaching Circus

For those of you who feel that coaching has little to do with a game, you need only look one place to find out that you're wrong: the San Diego Chargers.

The Chargers coaches are sub-standard, it's affecting the players, and the only man to blame is the San Diego General Manager, A.J. Smith.

See, under the Chargers' previous head coach, Marty Schottenheimer, the team went from the basement of the NFL to the attic. His disciplinarian style and ability to lead turned that team around, and he was summarily rewarded by being fired... and all because A.J. Smith didn't like him, and never did.

But when Marty was there, he had a decent offensive coordinator in Cam Cameron, an excellent defensive coordinator in Wade Phillips, and a suprisingly outstanding set of coaches.

Exit Cam to Miami, exit Wade to Dallas, and exit Marty to wherever the Hell he is. In Mythology, those three-headed animals can be a pain to deal with as long as one head remains, but San Diego lost all three in one off-season.

A.J., rife with the self-belief that he's a genius, brings in Norv Turner (whom Cam Cameron stole his offensive system from), a man who has never been an effective head coach, but has always been an excellent offensive coordinator.

This, however, created more problems than it solved.

First, the man hired as the new offensive coordinator by Marty, Clarence Shelmon (former running backs coach for the Chargers), effectively "lost" his new job, as Norv calls all offensive plays himself. This ain't going to make Clarence happy, and it removes him from a coaching position that he excelled at. Let's not forget that the new running backs coach is far less notable. Any wonder why the Chargers running game is way below their standard this year?

Second, Norv is not the motivator Marty was. Norv, like Philip Rivers, appears to give up from time to time. Marty fought tooth and nail to make a point, even if his team was down by 30 points.

See, when Marty and Cam ran the offense, Cam would generally call the plays, but if Marty had a problem with it, the play-calling would shift. Similarly, if Marty wanted something, Cam would adjust his plays to make Marty happy. Two heads, as they say, are better than one. With Norv, he answers to no one, and what he says is it... even when what he says is so obviously stupid.

For proof of this, simply look at Turner's career. As an offensive coordinator, he turned a struggling 49ers offense into a pleasant suprise the last couple of years. Now that he has left San Francisco to be the head coach in San Diego, both teams are suffering. The 49ers offense once again sucks, and the entire Chargers team once again sucks. Coincidence? I doubt it.

How does this explain the defensive problems San Diego has? Well, look at it this way... if you're a defensive player and you're always stuck on the field, and you have little faith that your offense is going to score even if you stand your ground, how long can you go before you quit giving a shit?

Norv Turner has to go, and he has to go before Philip Rivers truly does become a lost cause. Otherwise, the Spanos family better find some way to get Drew Brees back.

And Marty, too.

San Diego Sports Nightmares

The San Diego Padres lost their last two regular-season games to the Brewers, leaving them in a tie for the Wild Card with rival team Colorado. Jake Peavy has to pitch a tie-breaker. Fucking wonderful.

The San Diego Chargers lost to their first divisional opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, and are now last place in their division at 1-3. Ain't it grand?

Making Peavy pitch the tie-breaker means Peavy will only pitch once in the Wild Card series. Fucking wonderful.

To make matters worse, the Chargers are in last place BEHIND one of the worst teams in the league: the Oakland Raiders (2-2). Ain't it grand?

Still, the Padres have hope. All they have to do is win the tie-breaker and their season will continue for at least three more games.

The Chargers, however, have officially hit "disappointment." 13-3 is the best they can possibly finish, but with Norv Turner running the show, I doubt the Chargers will even get to 10-6. A friend of mine from Oceanside yelled "Cam Cameron, Cam Cameron" at me earlier this year, but he's 0-4. I guess we should've stuck with Wade Phillips, eh?

On a slightly brighter note, LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for more yards in the loss to the Chiefs than he had in the previous three games combined.

On a slightly dimmer note, Philip Rivers is, as I suggested in my last Chargers blog, looking more and more like a college quarterback. This can be fixed, and could probably be fixed by Norv Turner the Offensive Coordinator, but I'm betting against it being fixed by Norv Turner the Head Coach.

A.J. Smith, what are you going to do?

I'm rambling, I know, but I'm upset. The Chargers couldn't possibly have gotten this bad in one off-season. Still, I've stuck with my team since Dan Fouts-to-Wes Chandler, and nothing's going to change that.

Ah, well... here's hoping the Padres win.

Oh, Those Stupid Chargers

Flabbergasted. That's what I am. Flabbergasted. The San Diego Chargers, in all of their historical wisdom, have fired Marty Schottenheimer, the most successful Chargers coach since Bobby Ross. And why, you might ask? Well, the man who led the team to 12-4, 9-9-7, and 14-2 records the last three years simply could not win a playoff game.

That's the official line, of course. The reality is that the General Manager, A.J. Smith, did not like Marty. Remember my Drew Brees blog before the season started? The one where I mentioned that, since A.J. didn't draft Drew, A.J. didn't want Drew? Yeah, well, A.J. didn't hire Marty, either... keep that in mind as I continue my rant.

Anyway, the Chargers stupid decision of 2007 was to fire Marty AFTER deciding to keep him on, which oh-by-the-way, is also AFTER San Diego's two guru coordinators, Cam Cameron and Wade Phillips, left to go coach other teams (Miami and Dallas, respectively). So who's left? NO-FUCKING-BODY! Good job, Spanos family. You just fucked up the Chargers' coaching situation like you fucked up the Chargers' stadium situation.

While we're on the subject, let's go over a few of the other stupid Chargers moves in history.

First, and here's the obvious (this even predates the Spanos family)... remember those San Francisco 49er Super Bowls of the 80s? How many of those guys were former Chargers? Sent to the 49ers in what were essentially STUPID trades? I don't even want to count how many, because I'll start crying.

Let's jump to the 90s, shall we?

Bobby Ross? Only Chargers coach to NEVER post a losing record. Sure, he had a couple of 8-8 seasons, but the point remains. Let's not forget that he's the only coach to take the 'Bolts to the Super Bowl. So... what happened? What do you think? The Chargers fired him.

Drafting Ryan Leaf? You know, the consensus "biggest draft bust in history?" Awesome work, guys.

Letting Drew Brees go? Sure, this one may wind up working out, should Philip Rivers maintain his quality of play... but, I'm still biting my fingernails over this.

Junior Seau? JUNIOR SEAU? MR. CHARGER (no offense to Dan Fouts)? They LET HIM GO? Of course they did, they're the Chargers.

Then there was Leslie O'Neal, John Carney, Rodney Harrison, Donnie Edwards, etc.

Oh, and NOT signing John Lynch, who WANTED to come to San Diego, because he was "too old." Well, he's in Denver, your division rival, and he's still kicking ass.

I'm rambling.

To my Chargers: I love you, but DAMN, you can be stupid.

Flabbergasted.