This isn't exactly Falcons related, but it bothered me enough that I thought I'd get your input on it (Hello? Anyone out there? Helllloooo?)
Sometimes a coach is fired for entirely legitimate reasons, as is the case when he cannonballs his own ship and then refuses to take the blame for it. Coaches can be fired for many reasons, actually. I'd like to think that one of them isn't a testy relationship with the general manager, but that's exactly what happened to Marty Schottenheimer. I didn't entirely think it was Mora's fault that the Falcons sucked with such stubbornness, but at least they canned someone who clearly wasn't doing a great job. A lot of San Diego's situation had to do with the players, yes, but Schottenheimer had just brought them to the frickin' AFC Championship game. I can't name a situation short of a coach going on a naked shooting spree through San Diego that should get him fired after a run like Marty's had over there.
Over at Mile High Report, the reaction is more or less the same that mine was: disgust. The more I hear about A.J. Smith, the more apparent it becomes that he's a terrific general manager and a lousy boss or co-worker. As pointed out at Mile High Report, if they had fired him much sooner in the offseason, Marty almost definitely would've had a coaching gig somewhere; now he's got roughly nothing. I also have no idea how this benefits the Chargers, as a lot of the premier coaching talent has up and shifted elsewhere. Their best bet might be snatching a college coach at this point, and we already got Pet Rhino (for what it's worth). Somewhere A.J. Smith is probably cuddling his Philip Rivers doll and cackling quietly to himself.
For his sake, I hope the Chargers do well with a new coach, or it might be his ass hitting the pavement next.