Well…. Imagine how the San Diego Chargers team and fan base feels today. Against all odds, they made it to the playoffs. They won 4 games in a row. They just played and won their biggest game in 5 years. On Sunday they play the #1 Seed who they beat impressively just one short month ago. And their Offensive Coordinator has chosen to schedule THREE (count them) THREE interviews THIS week for a head coaching job.
In the midst of a magical season where you are only two wins away from the Superbowl, and your offensive guru is flirting in the hall with some other dude. Are you serious? How does this make any sense?
Football is by far the most coach driven sport. Coaches work around the clock during the regular season, let alone the playoffs. You can’t tell me this isn’t a major distraction going into a big game. You can’t tell me that the coach is giving 100% to his team when he is interviewing for another job. You can’t tell me that a player being asked to give 100% of his blood, sweat, and tears isn’t a bit put off playing for a coach that has one foot out the door.
Looks, these Superbowl runs are rare. The city, organization, and fan base deserve some type of loyalty. Would it kill the NFL is they placed a 5 week moratorium on head coaching interviews until after the post season was over? Is 5 weeks going to make that much of a difference? If it does, you can move the Combine, and Draft back to accommodate it right?
This is unverifiable, but I wouldn’t be surprised if teams lose in the playoff because they underrate team chemistry when it comes to these coaches making the rounds while their teams are still alive in the playoffs. The Green Bay Packers were 15-1 a few years back when the OC was flirting with the Dolphins, and in 2007 my Cowboys were 13-3 and lost in the divisional round when our OC was playing footsie with the Ravens.
Look, coaches can’t interview during the regular season why on earth would you allow them to do it in the post season. And if you’re looking for an example of a team waiting you don’t have to look past last year when Charles Kelly (Can’t call a grown man Chip) was the last head coach hired and it was well after the Superbowl. That worked out okay.
Roger Goodell it’s time for you to step up and fix this. It goes to the integrity of the game.
