Former Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer was on Fox Sport Net's "Best Damn Sports Show Period" and shared his thoughts on Chargers general manager A.J. Smith: "It was very tenuous. Over the course of the last couple years, there was very little dialogue between the GM and I. We used an intermediary to get information passed back and forth. It's not, in my view, the way you run an organization. Whether you like people or don't like people, you try to find a way to solve problems."According to Chargers president Dean Spanos, the dysfunctional working relationship led to Schottenheimer getting canned, though there was speculation that Schottenheimer got fired on purpose.
Either way, I agree that it's hard to effectively run an organization when the GM and head coach aren't even talking. I suspect Norv Turner and Smith have a more cordial relationship, though Turner's track record as a head coach is, well, abysmal. Still, despite their differences, Smith and Schottenheimer fielded some really good teams in recent seasons. The personnel decisions were solid and the coaching -- other than the playoffs ... and an occasional MartyBall episode -- was consistently good.
