Is Norv Turner Really Still the Head Coach in San Diego?

This blog is just something I have always needed to put on record as it is something that I have argued about with my brother forever and that is why is Norv Turner still the head coach in San Diego?  It never made sense to get rid of Marty Schottenheimer when his team that just went 14-2 and was the number 1 seed only to lose because Marlon McCree (I think that was his name) picked off a Brady pass only to be stripped by the wily veteran Troy Brown and then as could only happen to poor old Marty, it was game, set, match.  The funniest part of that game, which I remember vividly is that Schotty got away from his ever popular Marty Ball where he constantly runs the ball too much.  Tomlinson had a very good game and I don't think they gave him the ball enough and to the dismay of San Diegans everywhere, they ultimately lost the game.

I think much like quarterbacks, there are coaches that get too much credit for super bowl victories as opposed to those that didn't.  Schottenheimer never even made it to the big one as he had to live through the John Elway Drive, the  Earnest Byner fumble, Nate Kaeding missing a chip shot and Marlon McCree.  Now it is understood that maybe he could have had a bigger lead in those situations, but those are some pretty disturbing historical circumstances to overcome.  As you can tell I am a Schottenheimer apologist and by no means do I think he is Lombardi, Belichick, or Bill Walsh but he was a solid coach that turned losers into winners habitually.

Back to the point of the story, my nemesis Norv Turner.  He was a highly respected offensive coordinator, when he was given the job to take over my beloved Redskins a few years removed from their super bowl win.  For some reason he was allowed to hang around there and totally remove the team from any respectability as he was able to get the once proud Washington Redskins to the playoffs in 1 of his 7 seasons.  From there, he went back to being a coordinator that was somehow given the head coaching job with the Raiders, an organization that truly deserves someone of his caliber, where he resided for 2 seasons and a total of 9 wins.  He then went on to another coordinator position and after selling his soul to the devil was given a team built for the super bowl in 2007, the San Diego Chargers.  Coming off a 14-2 season, he has been able to get the Chargers to the playoffs in 3 of his 4 years winning the usually terrible AFC West.  In one of those seasons, San Diego sitting at 5-8 were able to rattle of 3 wins while the 8-5 Broncos lost its last 3 games and the division.

Now the AFC West is becoming a bit better and the Chargers were not able to overcome their early season woes as the Chiefs were able to supplant the Chargers and keep them at home for the playoffs despite San Diego having a highly ranked offense and defense.  Ron Rivera is gone, which means the defense will feel the heat much like the Giants did after losing Steve Spagnuolo.  I for one thought they should have fired Turner and hired Rivera.  It seems that A.J. Smith, "the Lord of No Rings" as described by Vincent Jackson's agent, and ownership are happy being mediocre, which is too bad for Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates and the rest of the team that will likely not win a super bowl in the near future.  Their talent will be able to overcome Turner's inferior coaching and help them make a run at the playoffs, but not enough to get them to the next level.