Fantasy Football Cheatsheets & Rankings

News & Info/Headlines

Click Here For Most Recent Stories.
About Face; Chargers Fire Marty Schottenheimer
Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer was fired Monday night in a shocking move by team president Dean Spanos, who cited a "dysfunctional situation" between the coach and general manager A.J. Smith.

In a statement released by the team, Spanos said: "Today I made an extremely difficult decision: Marty Schottenheimer is no longer the head coach of the San Diego Chargers."

As Associated Press sports writer Bernie Wilson noted, less than a month after San Diego's NFL-best 14-2 season came to an end, Spanos explained the exodus of both coordinators and other assistants in firing Schottenheimer, who had a year left on his contact.

When I decided to move ahead with Marty Schottenheimer in mid-January, I did so with the expectation that the core of his fine coaching staff would remain intact," Spanos' statement said. "The process of dealing with these coaching changes convinced me that we simply could not move forward with such dysfunction between our head coach and general manager.

"In short, this entire process over the last month convinced me beyond any doubt that I had to act to change this untenable situation."

According to ESPN insider Chris Mortensen, who first reported the move, Schottenheimer and Smith have been having disagreements over staffing after losing a number of assistants.

When told the situation between Schottenheimer and Smith was described by Spanos as "dysfunctional," Schottenheimer said "that's a pretty accurate description."

"I enjoyed time with all the players and coaches there. ... We made a hell of a lot of progress," Schottenheimer told Mortensen tonight. "We had one the best records in football over the past three years. We're leaving behind a good football team and a great bunch of guys.

"They can't take away what we accomplished."

As for the relationship with Smith, Schottenheimer told Mortensen: "I don't know why it was so bad. Every time I tried to get an explanation of why there was such a bad reaction, he always had the same rebuttal. ... He didn't want to talk about it."

Of course, the two men have been at odds for some time -- with last year's decision to let Drew Brees go leading to one of their more widely-publicized disagreements.

When that issue went public last March, Schottenheimer acknowledged his icy relationship with Smith and told San Diego Union-Tribune beat writer Jim Trotter he was uncertain if everyone in the organization was pulling in the same direction.

"I think it's important that there always be communication between the coach and the general manager," he said at the time. "I've sought to see that realized, but, quite frankly, there hasn't been as much communication as I would like.

"I think we all understand that ours is a very difficult, competitive enterprise, and in my opinion it's important that everybody is aimed in the same direction."

Was that the case with the Chargers?

"We'll have to maybe wait and see," he said.

It took them a while to figure it out, but that clearly wasn't the case and Spanos told Schottenheimer this afternoon that it wasn't going to work between him and Smith.

According to the statement, Spanos concedes his decision forces the team to begin "an intense search" for a new head coach at a relatively late date. But he stressed the change was "necessary to give the Chargers the best possible chance to win on the field this season."

While one of the first names bandied about in the wake of Schottenheimer's dismissal was that of USC head coach Pete Carroll, that seems like a bit of a reach.

ESPN.com senior writer John Clayton predicts the team will go with an expansive search, one that will probably start with Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera.

NFL Network insider Adam Schefter believes the list will also include former 49ers and Lions head coach Steve Mariucci, current Lions offensive coordinator and former Rams head coach Mike Martz, Texans offensive coordinator and former Packers head coach Mike Sherman, 49ers coordinator Norv Turner, 49ers assistant head coach Mike Singletary and Chargers receivers coach James Lofton.

Schefter pointed out that Mariucci, Martz and Sherman are all still collecting on their previous head coaching contracts and as such, might be available at a "discount."

Turner also has head coaching experience (with Washington and Oakland) and spent the 2001 season as San Diego's offensive coordinator. Under Turner's guidance, the Chargers offense improved to the 11th-best unit in the NFL after having finished 28th overall the previous season.

LaDainian Tomlinson led all NFL rookies with 1,236 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns on 339 attempts, while also catching an NFL rookie-best 59 passes.

Lofton has no head coaching experience, but recently interviewed for Oakland's vacancy after Art Shell was fired. Singletary interviewed for the openings in Atlanta and Dallas.

But as Profootballtalk.com editor Mike Florio suggested tonight: "Regardless of where the team goes next, the move marks a stunning end to an otherwise stellar season."

Well. ... At least a stunning regular season.

The Chargers' postseason finished with a major disappointment, when the Chargers melted down in a 24-21 playoff loss to New England.

Speculation grew following the loss that Schottenheimer might be fired, due in part to the front office's expectations of a deep playoff run and his icy relationship with Smith.

Nonetheless, Spanos decided that bringing Schottenheimer back for the final year of his contract gave San Diego its best chance to win.

Schottenheimer, though, declined the team's offer of a one-year extension for 2008 worth $4.5 million, with a $1 million buyout.

"I wasn't comfortable accepting it," Schottenheimer told the AP at the time. He would have earned more than $3 million in 2007.

Unfortunately, the decision to retain Schottenheimer was followed by the departure of key staffers -- something Spanos cited as

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was hired as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys last Thursday. Phillips followed offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who was hired as head coach of the Dolphins last month, and two other assistants out of town for better jobs.

Tight ends coach Rob Chudzinski became Cleveland's offensive coordinator, and linebackers coach Greg Manusky was hired as San Francisco's defensive coordinator.

Running backs coach Clarence Shelmon, who's never been a coordinator, was promoted to replace Cameron. Shelmon accepted only a one-year contract due to Schottenheimer's lame-duck status.

For the record, Schottenheimer, who completed his 30th season as a head coach, has 200 career regular season victories, the fifth highest total in NFL history. However, he has never gotten a team to the Super Bowl, and his postseason record is 5-13, including 0-2 with the Chargers. ...

Stay tuned. I'll obviously have more on the Chargers' search for a new coach as the situation plays out.

Click Here To Return To The Headlines.