The most remarkable aspect of Marblehead’s football season last fall came during a loss ? a defeat that spoke volumes about Doug Chernovetz’ coaching, and his success in teaching a team that had been thrown for a loop how to regroup and focus.That loss occurred on Thanksgiving, when the Magicians took a physically superior Swampscott team down to the wire in one of the better games in the history of that storied rivalry. Just 10 days earlier, and on the heels of the suspension of two of the team’s most important players, the Magicians basically got their lunches stolen from them at Stackpole Field in Saugus. This was a team reeling from an unforeseen misfortune, and it was obvious afterward that Chernovetz wasn’t as unhappy with the loss as he was with his team’s reaction to the whole suspension issue.Chernovetz had 10 days to rescue his team from being in near total disarray to one that had the courage to stand up to the adversity and take on its rival – with a league championship at stake.Okay. They lost. But no one can ever say the Magicians didn’t show up, stand up, and walk away with their heads up. They gave the overflow crowd one heck of a show that day, and every one of them did themselves proud.Now, I don’t know what Chernovetz did in those 10 days ? what he might have said to his players ? the urgency he may have tried to convey. I don’t know whether he got a little tough with the kids (I suspect he did), whether he may have made examples out of players he felt failed to answer the bell in that Saugus game. I don’t know.But my guess is that if there was one feeling ? one emotion ? that he exuded in that week and a half, it was intensity. And that’s not just because he’s an intense individual, either. It’s because the situation demanded intensity. Otherwise, the Magicians would have run onto Blocksidge Field and had breakfast, lunch, dinner and between-meal snacks stolen from them, too.This is why I’m scratching my head over the high school principal’s decision to recommend that his job be opened up.Principal John Ziergiebel said Tuesday he couldn’t elaborate on why he felt this move was necessary, because it was a personnel matter. But he did say that Chernovetz had done nothing untoward.So maybe it was just a simple difference in philosophy ? Chernovetz believing that coaching an emotional game requires a certain emotion on his part; and the town believing that adolescence is an extended version of nursery school where everybody gets a gold star just for showing up.What really puzzles me is the timing. The principal could have done this at the end of the 2007 season, when players were bailing on Chernovetz and one set of parents took him to court after he confronted their son. But he didn’t.Ziergiebel also could have taken a similar stand with regards to Chernovetz’ use of chewing tobacco in front of his players – a clear violation of MIAA rules. But he didn’t. He just suspended the coach for two games.So why now? Why is Ziergiebel so eager to give Chernovetz the boot after the team had its first winning season since 1992 ? and after it played such an inspired game on the big stage on Thanksgiving?To say that’s odd is a gross understatement.It’s also bizarre in light of the town’s well-deserved reputation for running coaches out of town. There ought to be a turnstile at the Swampscott and Salem borders to log all the coaches who have entered with the glow of optimism ? and left with footprints up and down their backs.To borrow a well-worn phrase from the great Ricky Ricardo, “Marblehead ? you got a lot of ‘splainin’ to do.”Steve Krause is sports editor of The Item.