MartyBall Will Return
 

Not big news, but I thought the highlighted portion below was interesting. Why turn down guaranteed money of any kind? Was he pissed that they included the buyout option, rather than just a straight 1-year extension?


Marty Schottenheimer will remain the Chargers head coach in 2007, the team announced Wednesday.

NFL Network's Adam Shefter said Schottenheimer oddly turned down a one-year extension that included a team buyout. The statement released by the Chargers was careful to say that GM A.J. Smith was in favor of the move. Jan. 17 - 4:49 pm et

Last hurrah?

I don't know, I remember watching him after that last game, and he had the look of a terminal patient asking a doctor to pull the plug. He's not a young man.

I would look deathly ill as well if my team just outplayed a dynasty and somehow blew it.

Yeah, it's understandable. I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me at all if he was ready to retire soon.

What they just said on ESPN was that the extension would have been for $4.5 mil, but the buyout option was just $1 mil.

I can see it -- obviously the Chargers are as stupid as some other NFL teams where winning 13 or so games in a season isn't good enough. Why sign an extension with the impression that if you don't win the Super Bowl next year you will be fired? By coaching out the contract, he can walk away with the impression it was his choice, not theirs. The money from a buyout obviously isn't worth the pride.

It galls me that people bash Marty Schottenheimer because he hasn't been lucky enough to win a Super Bowl. People say it's his coaching -- did he fumble the ball on the one-yard line in Cleveland? Did he shank three goals in the cold against Indianapolis? Did he taunt the Patriots and give them free points with a stupid personal foul?

You have to be a great coach to win as many ball games as he has won. You have to be a great coach AND a lucky coach to win a Super Bowl. He's had nothing but bad luck. One year, the luck will come his way and he'll win one. I can't see Marty Schottenheimer retiring before he wins one. And as soon as he does, all the criticism will melt away and they'll start talking about his bust for Canton.

Winning one or retiring aren't really the only two options.

There's some chance that he could actually die before winning one. He is, after all, the third oldest head coach in the league. And given the stressful nature of the coaching profession, I'd have to think his life expectancy is somewhat reduced.

Yep, it's nothing but bad luck. I can't believe he was so unlucky that LT was not given 10-12 more touches in that game.

i am probably the one of the few fans that is happy that he is returning.

I'm happy about it, but I'd like Cam to get a shot someday.

He's come a long way from reportedly nearly being fired a few seasons ago.

San Diego's biggest worry should be keeping LaDanian off of the cover of Madden 2008.

:D

No, but he allowed obviously inferior teams to keep the game close in all those cases. He didnt fumble the ball, but he kept the game to a point where fumbling the ball would lose the game against an inferior opponent. Talent wise, all three of those games should have been 30 point blowouts...instead they were close enough to have a small fluke lose them.


Hes great at building a team, and managing talent, but hes an awful game caller.

Ask Kodos about that.

Agree 100%

So the Chargers won't win a playoff game until at least 2008. :)

Eh, I agree and disagree. I don't think a coach, or player, needs to win a Super Bowl to be great. Marty is one hell of a coach ... during the regular season. Unlucky? Eh, I dunno. I would agree with "cursed".

The whole problem I have is that he will NEVER win a Super Bowl, because he is cursed or whatever. He will probably never a win another playoff game. His last playoff win was what, 1954? For me, I don't want a coach that will take my team to 15-1 each year, only to get bounced out of the playoffs in their first game. I'd rather be 6-10 each year and be continual losers than suffer false hope year in and year out. That would drive me insane.

The good: Marty has the 18th best winning % all time for the regular season for coaches that coached over 50 games (131 coaches qualify). If you look at the coaches on that list, they are damn good.
I would love to have Marty as my regular season head coach. If you wouldn't, you are just dumb.

The bad: Marty has the 2nd worst winning % in the playoffs of any coach who has coached more than 10 playoff games. He also has the 2nd biggest difference between regular season and postseason winning% for coaches that coached more than 10 postseason games. There is just something ... wrong there. To continually get bonked out of the playoffs with some REALLY damn good teams shows a curse or lack of concentration or he just sucks in the playoffs. Whatever the reason, his teams don't show up and fall flat. Poor preparation, maybe? Lack of focus? I don't know.

I guess the best way I can explain it is this: Having Marty as your coach is like having sex without cumming (for guys). Sure, sex is great, but if you don't bust your nut it's far worse than not having sex in the first place.

MartyBall probably figured it would be better to be able to leave free and clear after next year. There are most likely some prime jobs available in one year....he could go back to Cleveland at that point, if he wanted to for instance. Also the Giants/Panthers jobs will most likely be open, as well as the Raiders job(of course)

Coming to a sig block near you!

QFT.

And that he was so unlucky that he passed up a 47 yard field goal in the first quarter and instead went for it on 4th and 11.

Don't forget the the desperate challenge on a fumble that was 5 steps and 3 seconds after the player caught the ball, that cost the Chargers an attempt to run LT once more and move the ball 4-5 yards closer on the game ending field goal miss. Marty must have picked a bad time to turn around or something, because the fans in the bleachers could have told you that was the worst challenge in the history of the game.

And no, fans shouldn't be happy with 14-2 and a first game playoff exit when you are clearly the most talented team left in the playoffs and your coach has a reputation for not killing off games, lettings teams back into it and choking in the playoffs.

That being said, I'm not sold on any of the alternatives out there either. So I don't particularly care that Marty is back. Maybe in a year Cameron will be ready for the HC job. Maybe Marty will win a Super Bowl next year, but I doubt it. Something tells me the Chargers will come out pretty flat this year and could end in a big hole early in the season.

Is Marty even a coach at this point? What exactly does he do besides look bewildered up and down the sidelines and give stirring "One play at a time" speeches.

Anyone can throw the guys out there and watch. To me if he's going out of his way to stay out the way it's time to go away.

Yeah, forget the stupid plays and penalties by the players. Marty lost the game on 3 plays - going for it on 4th-and-11 from the 30, which I assume was his attempt to say to the world, "You want to be rid of MartyBall - then here! We're going for it! I'm a wiiiiiild and ca-raaaaazy guy!" Which, of course, was a stupid, low percentage move. Then there was punting on 4th-and-4 from the 41. He got those calls reversed. A 6 year old could have told him that.

And then there was the challenge. Five minutes left, and he challenges a play that had no conceivable basis to be overturned. The guy clearly caught the ball, and he didn't even come near falling to the ground for the fumble to be in question. And to top it off, he challenged it immediately. He didn't wait until a second or two before the Pats took their snap so his coaches could see multiple replays of it, he challenged it before the teams switched personnel!

Even if you give him a free pass for everything that happened up until the challenge, he still lost the game for them on that single play. With a TO with about 35 seconds left after that long pass, they almost certainly would have gotten closer to FG range. Not to mention, I thought it was crazy they didn't try one quick 8 yard out with 8 seconds left to try to get a few more yards, but that one was debatable. The challenge was not.

Agree with all of this. The guy only is one of 5 coaches to have 200 wins and has one of the best win percentages among those 5. I don't get all of the bashing.

In a sense, yes

Because winning in the playoffs and winning in the regular season are different. For about 14 games a year, the chargers are the clear better team. When the playoffs happen, the talent level evens out. You stop being able to just out-talent teams, and start having to out scheme, and outplay them.

Teams with a first round buy generally win about 80% of the time, and thats not because of the bye, or the home field advantage. Its because theyre better teams. Its usually a 14-2 team playing an 11-5 team.

The problem isnt that Marty loses in the playoffs. Its that he loses to inferior teams.

Marty is great at building a team with a ton of talent, and great at finding good players. Hes just a crappy coach. The problem with Marty, is that thier GM essentially has the same talents as him. They really need a coach like Gruden, whos is a phenomenal X and Os guy, but an bad personnel guy. Let Smith continue to do the player management, and let the coach do the playcalling.

Yes, this is bang on.