Is San Diego Screwed?

In case you missed it with all the snow and Anna Nicole and cheating Nascar drivers, there was some pretty big football news this week. Important football news in February? Yup. Turns out that, after giving him an unqualified vote of confidence after a painful loss to the Patriots in the playoffs, the San Diego Chargers have decided to unload Marty Schottenheimer after all.

Charger's president Dean Spanos said he made the decision to address a “dysfunctional situation” between the coach and general manager A.J. Smith. And it was dysfunctional. Dysfunctional in that Smith wanted to be in charge, and so did Schottenheimer. Dysfunctional in that that Schottenheimer once again got outcoached playing a worse team in the playoffs. Dysfunctional in that Smith wasn't about to let him forget it.

So Marty is out and the AFC's best team last season is without a coach in the middle of February. With Bill Cowher signed on as a CBS studio analyst and Pete Carroll insisting he's staying at USC, just who is out there for the Chargers to hire? All of the typical also-rans, it seems. All those guys who the Cowboys considered worse than Wade Phillips. That's gotta be pretty bad, no? And along with the also-rans, there's one new name: There's Rex Ryan, one of the best defensive coordinators in the business and son to the legendary head coach Buddy Ryan. But is he ready to lead a team to the Superbowl in his first season as head coach. Because, with their talent, that's where San Diego needs to be aiming this year. So coordinators like Ryan and Mike Singletary may be too green to get the nod. Which leaves? Norv Turner, I guess - a good offensive coordinator who has twice been a head coach in the NFL. And twice gotten canned. Maybe Ryan's not such a bad bet after all.