NFL News: Chargers Sack Schottenheimer

Marty Schottenheimer was fired by the Chargers on Monday. Photo: NFL.com

SAN DIEGO - Arguably one of the NFL’s most talented teams is now looking for a head coach.

Marty Schottenheimer was fired by the Chargers Monday, citing his "dysfunctional" relationship with A.J. Smith, the team's general manager.

San Diego Chargers President Dean Spanos issued the following statement regarding Marty Schottenheimer on Monday:

"Today I made an extremely difficult decision: Marty Schottenheimer is no longer the head coach of the San Diego Chargers.

"This decision was so hard because Marty has been both a friend and valued coach of our team. But my first obligation is always to do what is in the best interest of our fans and the entire Charger organization. I must take whatever steps are necessary to deliver a Super Bowl trophy to San Diego. Events of the last month have now convinced me that it is not possible for our organization to function at a championship level under the current structure. On the contrary, and in the plainest possible language, we have a dysfunctional situation here. Today I am resolving that situation once and for all.

"My decision means that our organization will be obligated to pay the last year of Marty Schottenheimer’s contract and will begin an intense search for a new head coach at this relatively late date, but these are sacrifices that I believe are necessary to give the Chargers the best possible chance to win on the field this season.

"Our fans deserve to know what changed for me over the last month. 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. Unfortunately, that did not prove to be the case, and 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 and create an environment where everyone at Charger Park would be pulling in the same direction and working at a championship level. I expect exactly that from our entire Charger organization in 2007."

Schottenheimer, had a year remaining on his contract.

His firing came less than a month after his team fell apart in a divisional playoff loss to New England that ruined San Diego's NFL-best 14-2 season.

Potential candidates include USC's Pete Carroll; Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera; Detroit offensive coordinator Mike Martz, and former Falcons coach Jim Mora Jr.

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