Wow. Seriously. This guy... this guy is friggin' nuts. I mean really, really crazy. Crazy like Whitney Houston going 5 minutes without a hit from her crack pipe. Crazy like Wayne Newton at the plastic surgeon's office. Crazy like that British military dude in 28 Days Later, or any of the zombies in that movie for that matter.
Dean Spanos is friggin' crazy.
He fires Marty Schottenheimer, who has the highest winning percentage of any active coach, and replaces him with Norv Turner. Norv Turner? The same Norv Turner that was a disaster in Washington? A disaster in Oakland? The same guy with the 58-82-1 record (.415 winning percentage)? The guy who last coached a playoff game in 1994?
Dean Spanos, you fired Marty for this?
As always, Gonzo at Daily Norseman sums it up best:
I mean, seriously now, come on. Norv Turner? Norv "59-82-1" Turner? Norv "One playoff victory in 9 seasons as a head coach" Turner? Norv "One double-digit win season in 9 years as a head coach" Turner? THAT Norv Turner?
You want to take that team... 14-2 last year, best regular season record in the league, possibly the most talented team in the NFL, and you want to turn it over to a guy that's averaged 6.5 wins a year as an NFL head coach?
I'll tell you what. . .if I was LaDanian Tomlinson, I'd be looking to just run towards the closest living thing and kill it.
I mean, Dean Spanos is just dumb, dumb, DUMB. Oh, and he's crazy.
Why did they hire Turner? I'm sure the usual crap will come up: head coaching experience; he "created" the offense; he used to work there as the OC, yadda, yadda, yadda. Whatever. For the Chargers, there is no defending this. It's a terrible hire, a re-tread of the same old crap. They essentially went with what they know instead of going out there and getting an actual coach.