• AOL Fanhouse. The Chargers hired a guy that flamed out so badly in Washington, he was replaced by Marty Schottenheimer. Think about that for a moment. The Turner ship was so out of control, with coaches fighting players and such, that the team needed Schottenheimer to come in and clean up Turner's mess. Now this guy is going to run the Chargers?

• That Guy Sports Blog. All AFC contenders should rest easier tonight, the San Diego Chargers will not be a factor this season, or any future season. I can't help but wonder if Chargers ownership is trying to lose next year so they can fire General Manager AJ Smith and completely re-tool the organization. Is now a good time to mention that Turner's career record as a head coach is 58-82-1? That's 24 games under .500 folks. TWENTY FOUR.

• With Leather. The San Diego Chargers have filled their coaching vacancy by hiring Norv Turner, a move that sends a clear message to San Diego fans, and that message is fuck you. The Chargers administration obviously hates the people of San Diego, because nobody could make such a foolish hiring by accident. It's simply a malicious act, one targeted at wasting a voracious defense and the transcendent talent of LaDainian Tomlinson.

• The Strange World. The Chargers are going to hire Norv Turner to be their head coach. What a way to stick it in the eye of Marty! Apparently, the Spanos family and AJ Smith have decided that even a monkey could coach the Chargers to a division title. That's a huge gamble, considering that while Norv is a fine coordinator, his experience as a head coach has been, shall we say, lackluster?

• Chargers Locker. One thing immediately comes to mind with the Chargers' coaching hire......is A.J. Smith nuts?

• 49ers News. The 49ers now must look for a new offensive coordinator. With the timing of this whole situation and the combine on the horizon look for Nolan to promote wide receivers coach Jerry Sullivan as the next OC. Other candidate names that may arise are Ken Zampese (QB Coach Bengals), Jim Fassel (doing nothing right now) and maybe some other current 49ers coaches in Warhop and Hoerner. By the way I blame the Tuna for all of this. Now let's take a moment to laugh at the Chargers. They go from Schottenheimer/Phillips to Turner/Cottrell...

• Chargers Confidential. How does this happen? How do you hire a guy who just got beat out for the Dallas job by someone you apparently didn't think was good enough to push Marty out of the way for? Someone whose head coaching experience includes a decidedly negative won-loss record? This is our savior? Can Norv win a Super Bowl? Well, we're gonna find out.

We love February NFL firings; they just seem so ill-advised and capricious. As you've surely heard by now, Marty Schottenheimer was given the old heave-ho by the Chargers on Monday (thank God this news was timed so as not to disrupt the pagentry of Pro Bowl Week), who cited "a dysfunctional situation" between the coach and GM A.J. Smith as the reason. Anyway, Marty seems almost relieved.

"I'm doing fine," Schottenheimer said. "This business is too hard — it's hard to be successful if you don't have everybody on the same page."

But now the fun part; who's next? Of course we'll get another round of Pete Carroll speculation, and the names of James Lofton, Mike Singletary, Norv Turner, Russ Grimm and even Dick Vermeil are being bandied about. (What, no Steve Mariucci? Do we hear Seifert? Mornhinweg? Do we hear a Jim Essian?) At any rate, we think we'll all agree that the top candidates are all safely ensconced in other jobs, including two from the Chargers' own staff. Do owner Dean Spanos and Smith have any kind of exit strategy here? Doesn't seem so. Unless ... say hello to Bill Parcells!

By the way, the good news about this? Come playoff time, the Chargers should be just fine.

Chargers Fire Schottenheimer [San Diego Union Tribune]
Chargers Fire Schottenheimer After 14-2 Season [MSNBC]

Schotty, as he will be fondly called until January 2008, when he is paraded through the Gaslamp Quarter backwards on a donkey, will serve out the remaining year on his contract. He was also offered a one-year extension for 2008 worth $4.5 million, but Scottenheimer didn't like the the $1 million buyout option, and refused. Of course, no one knows exactly what to think about this until LaDainian Tomlinson makes a statement.

Except, of course, the blogs.

• Chargers NFL Fanhouse. The Chargers would have had every right in the world to fire Schottenheimer and are gambling on the fact that the coach and the players will respond to the show of faith with a renewed commitment to winning a Super Bowl next year. The hope is that that will overcome whatever postseason shortcomings exist. So, for better or worse, there it is, Chargers fans. At least one more year of Marty Schottenheimer. A.J. Smith and Dean Spanos believe in him. I'd understand if you don't.

• Super Chargers. You asked for it, San Diego. Now go fuck yourselves and don't come crying to me a year from now, when you feel exactly how you felt Monday. Word on the street is that Schotty stays, but without a contract extension. Meanwhile, all the assistants will get new contracts. There you have it. Everything old is new again. Look forward to another strong regular season capped off with a cherry-colored shit. Fuck this noise.

• Bolt Talk. Err, good lucky Marty. (Commenter).

Chargers Keeping Head Coach [San Diego Union Tribune]

Trivia question: At the time that Marty Schottenheimer last won an NFL playoff game, Tom Brady was being coached by ...

Answer: Me.

And if that tidbit isn't enough to get Schottenheimer fired, nothing is. A friend called over the weekend to remind me that, during that cold, petulant January in 1991, Brady was playing for the Junipero Serra High (San Mateo, Calif.) freshman basketball team where I was a coach. Now it can be told; the school that gave us Barry Bonds, Lynn Swann and Gregg Jefferies was the site of my first coaching gig. And we were all sure that Brady was destined for great things in basketball.

Football? He had played quarterback for Serra's freshman team that went 0-8, taking maybe a half-dozen snaps the entire season as the backup. You think Brady is slow now? He was glacial then. The man who replaced Drew Bledsoe couldn't, in his freshman year, rise above Kevin Krystofiak (currently a local insurance broker) on the depth chart. Back then we actually thought that his dominant sport would be baseball, where he was a catcher (in fact he was taken in the 18th round of the draft by the Montreal Expos following his senior year). Although he was the starting quarterback by the time he reached the varsity, he showed little of the three-Super Bowl promise that was to come. To my recollection, none of his Serra teams even made the playoffs.

But here's the thing. You knew, somehow, that Brady would make it. He was just too smart, too positive, and loved football too much. You rarely use the word destiny when dealing with teenage athletes, but Brady had that vibe. He was the kid who was always smiling. Even as a senior he would see me around campus and call out my name, and, for the record, it's not usually cool for an upperclassman to acknowledge their old freshman coaches. Reminds them of humbler times, like the football season when they were 0-8.

But the Serra freshman basketball team? We were 9-3 and took a league co-championship. Who would have though then that Tommy Brady would go on to fame with a small role in the film Stuck On You? Crazy world.

By the way; my friend's math was a little off. Schottenheimer last won a playoff game in 1993 (Chiefs 28, Oilers 20), when Brady would have been a high school junior. By then I was coaching Dan Serafini on the freshman squad. Um, notice how none of these guys went on to play basketball? — RC

(Ed. Note: Deadspin editor Will Leitch feels obliged to point out that in 1991, he was a sophomore in high school. He was not coached by Rick Chandler.)

It's strange, really; Schottenheimer has gone from rooting interest for a Super Bowl to a guy who very well might lose his job this week. (We always found him an odd match with that team anyway.) Chargers fans — we haven't had the heart to talk to The Mighty MJD yet this morning — have to be devastated, and wonder if it's ever going to happen for them. It's clearly not going to happen with Schottenheimer in charge; that much is now clear.

And the rest of us? Aw, it's Manning vs. Brady again. We're not watching a single CBS promo this week. We just can't.

F—k. Again? [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
Did Schottenheimer Coach Himself Out Of A Job [The Fanhouse]