SAN DIEGO -- Contract talks between Marty Schottenheimer's
agent and the San Diego Chargers hit a snag Thursday, the day the
both sides had hoped to reach a deal for the veteran coach to take
over the struggling team.
Schottenheimer's agent, Tom Condon, left face-to-face meetings
with Chargers officials in Mobile, Ala., for his scheduled return
to Kansas City on Thursday afternoon. He said he planned to
continue to negotiate with the Chargers by phone.
"We're battling through some stuff," Condon said by phone
before leaving Mobile. "There's no offer, and we haven't done the
deal. I don't think that it's dead or anything like that. I don't
want to characterize it like that.
"We're continuing to talk and trying to get through some
things. Hopefully, we'll get something done."
Neither Condon nor Chargers general manager John Butler would
discuss specificis.
"There's no change on anything," Butler said. "It's the same
as it was. The minute we get something done we'll let people
know."
Butler was scheduled to remain in Mobile until Friday, scouting
practices for the Senior Bowl.
Schottenheimer has been the favorite for the Chargers' job since
he was fired as Washington's coach on Jan. 13, making way for the
Redskins to hire Steve Spurrier. Schottenheimer was 8-8 in his only
season in Washington, with the Redskins rallying from an 0-5 start.
Reports out of Mobile earlier in the week indicated that Butler
hoped to have the coaching situation finalized by Thursday.
"I kind of thought we would, too," Condon said. "There are a
lot of different issues involved, which are taking us a little bit
longer."
The hangups could be over player personnel issues, the makeup of
the coaching staff or length of the contract.
Butler has total control of player personnel issues like the
draft and free agency. Schottenheimer had the ultimate authority on
player moves with the Redskins last year, but when he refused to
renegotiate a clause in his contract giving him that power, he was
fired by owner Daniel Snyder.
If Butler can't agree with Schottenheimer, he has two fallback
candidates -- Chargers offensive coordinator Norv Turner and New
York Jets defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell.
Turner was the only member of the coaching staff to keep his job
after the Chargers went 5-11 in 2001, missing the playoffs for the
sixth straight year. Head coach Mike Riley was fired Dec. 31 after
the Chargers finished with nine straight losses. Riley was 14-34 in
three seasons.
Turner was the Redskins' head coach from 1994 until being fired
with three games left in the 2000 season. Turner has three seasons
left on his Chargers' contract, but is expected to exercise an
"out" clause if Schottenheimer is hired.
Cottrell has never been a head coach.
Schottenheimer is 153-93-1 as coach of the Cleveland Browns,
Kansas City Chiefs and Redskins. His teams reached the playoffs 11
times in 16 seasons, although his postseason record is 5-11.
Then again, the Chargers have made the playoffs just three times
in the 18 seasons they've been owned by the Spanos family, all
coming under coach Bobby Ross. Ross lost a power struggle with
then-GM Bobby Beathard at the end of the 1996 season, two years
after getting the Chargers to their only Super Bowl.
Since Ross left, the Chargers are 23-57 and have gone through
three head coaches.
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