By Joshua M. Boraz
As a fan, I am a band wagon jumper. I did not root for the Chicago Bears because I grew up in Chicago from 0-8. I don't root for the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox because I lived in New Hampshire and went to UNH from 17-22. I don't root for the Atlanta Hawks because I reside in Milledgeville, Georgia and Atlanta is the cloest city. If I root for a team, I do it because I like the moves they made in the off-season, regular season and their overall general direction that they take with their franchise.
So something dramatic must have happened in order to change my football preference from San Diego Chargers.
Did they lose RB LaDanian Tomlinson to a knee injury in the celebrity all-star game? Did QB Phillip Rivers break his elbow in the Pro Bowl? Has Antonio Gates suddenly turn into a slightly more talented version of Saints TE Mark Campbell?
No, no, no, I'll stop picking on the Saints. I'm sorry. It's not player related.
It's because the Chargers hired the worst possible candidate to replace Marty Schottenheimer: Norv Turner.
Norv Turner has nothing going for him. He hasn't had anything going for him in almost 10 years (since he was with the Dallas Cowboys in 1993).
Here are 3 reasons why Norv Turner will be terrible for the Chargers:
#1- Turner is 54 years old. What does that show you? A man who is old school and probably not open to any new ideas when it comes to the finer points of head coaching. It means that the guy is unwilling to change.
#2- Turner's career record is 59-83-1. That means he's 24 games under .500! UNDER .500. Now he coached the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, two of the harder head coaching jobs in all of pro sports. But don't use that as an excuse, ask the Raiders where they were before Turner arrived (anyone remember some guy named Bill Callahan getting the most out of some guy named QB Rich Gannon). When Turner left Oakland, he left it in disarray at 4-12. Not that Al Davis is blameless, just that Norv Turner is a master at losing.
#3- Turner hasn't had a winning record in 7 years. That's right, 7 years! That's 7 years of losing. And oh by the way, this dramatic improvement in Alex Smith he's credited with, the 49ers did not have a winning record last year for all those who forgot. The NFC was going to have it's first 7-9 team in the playoffs if things fell right.
The reason the Chargers are probably hiring Turner is because he probably will be able to land Ted Cottrell as his defensive coordinator. He has experience running the 3-4, all of his defenses (even in Buffalo) were successful. He has 22 seasons of NFL Coaching Experience, and we all know he won't land a head oaching gig because every time he interviews he comes up short (that's factual, not opinion based).
Regardless, that's a bad reason to hire a head coach, he's able to bring a name coordinator. Of course, that's the San Diego Charger way of doing business with A.J. Smith.
I don't like changing my favorite team, which the Chargers were yesterday. There's a pretty good chance that the Chargers (on sheer talent alone) will continue to have a winning record next year. They may make the playoffs again (probably not at 14-2) but they're in the same division as the Denver Broncos, who probably can overtake them with this move alone.
This is the beginning of the Charger's slide from grace.
Additional places to see/hear my work:
In the Magazine
The Sporting News (February 19th edition, page 10 by JMBoraz)
In the Newspaper:
The Union Recorder - Milledgeville, Georgia
The Macon Telegraph - Macon, Georgia (starting this week!)
On Radio:
WIFN Macon/Warner Robins, GA 105.5 The Fan on Four Downs between 4:30-4:50 (usually first down)
Starting Friday: WMUR 88.9 FM- Milledgeville, GA- From 12 P.M.-2 P.M.- My own Radio Show!
On the Internet:
http://www.unionrecorder.com
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/JMBoraz
http://www.sportscolumn.com/user/JMBoraz
http://www.soulcast.com/user/posts/65786
http://uwritesports.com
http://jmboraz.blogspot.com/index.html
As a fan, I am a band wagon jumper. I did not root for the Chicago Bears because I grew up in Chicago from 0-8. I don't root for the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox because I lived in New Hampshire and went to UNH from 17-22. I don't root for the Atlanta Hawks because I reside in Milledgeville, Georgia and Atlanta is the cloest city. If I root for a team, I do it because I like the moves they made in the off-season, regular season and their overall general direction that they take with their franchise.
So something dramatic must have happened in order to change my football preference from San Diego Chargers.
Did they lose RB LaDanian Tomlinson to a knee injury in the celebrity all-star game? Did QB Phillip Rivers break his elbow in the Pro Bowl? Has Antonio Gates suddenly turn into a slightly more talented version of Saints TE Mark Campbell?
No, no, no, I'll stop picking on the Saints. I'm sorry. It's not player related.
It's because the Chargers hired the worst possible candidate to replace Marty Schottenheimer: Norv Turner.
Norv Turner has nothing going for him. He hasn't had anything going for him in almost 10 years (since he was with the Dallas Cowboys in 1993).
Here are 3 reasons why Norv Turner will be terrible for the Chargers:
#1- Turner is 54 years old. What does that show you? A man who is old school and probably not open to any new ideas when it comes to the finer points of head coaching. It means that the guy is unwilling to change.
#2- Turner's career record is 59-83-1. That means he's 24 games under .500! UNDER .500. Now he coached the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, two of the harder head coaching jobs in all of pro sports. But don't use that as an excuse, ask the Raiders where they were before Turner arrived (anyone remember some guy named Bill Callahan getting the most out of some guy named QB Rich Gannon). When Turner left Oakland, he left it in disarray at 4-12. Not that Al Davis is blameless, just that Norv Turner is a master at losing.
#3- Turner hasn't had a winning record in 7 years. That's right, 7 years! That's 7 years of losing. And oh by the way, this dramatic improvement in Alex Smith he's credited with, the 49ers did not have a winning record last year for all those who forgot. The NFC was going to have it's first 7-9 team in the playoffs if things fell right.
The reason the Chargers are probably hiring Turner is because he probably will be able to land Ted Cottrell as his defensive coordinator. He has experience running the 3-4, all of his defenses (even in Buffalo) were successful. He has 22 seasons of NFL Coaching Experience, and we all know he won't land a head oaching gig because every time he interviews he comes up short (that's factual, not opinion based).
Regardless, that's a bad reason to hire a head coach, he's able to bring a name coordinator. Of course, that's the San Diego Charger way of doing business with A.J. Smith.
I don't like changing my favorite team, which the Chargers were yesterday. There's a pretty good chance that the Chargers (on sheer talent alone) will continue to have a winning record next year. They may make the playoffs again (probably not at 14-2) but they're in the same division as the Denver Broncos, who probably can overtake them with this move alone.
This is the beginning of the Charger's slide from grace.
Additional places to see/hear my work:
In the Magazine
The Sporting News (February 19th edition, page 10 by JMBoraz)
In the Newspaper:
The Union Recorder - Milledgeville, Georgia
The Macon Telegraph - Macon, Georgia (starting this week!)
On Radio:
WIFN Macon/Warner Robins, GA 105.5 The Fan on Four Downs between 4:30-4:50 (usually first down)
Starting Friday: WMUR 88.9 FM- Milledgeville, GA- From 12 P.M.-2 P.M.- My own Radio Show!
On the Internet:
http://www.unionrecorder.com
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/JMBoraz
http://www.sportscolumn.com/user/JMBoraz
http://www.soulcast.com/user/posts/65786
http://uwritesports.com
http://jmboraz.blogspot.com/index.html
