Chargers head coach Schottenheimer fired
ESPN.com news services
Sources close to Marty Schottenheimer and the San Diego Chargers said the coach was fired by the team Monday, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported.
Schottenheimer and Chargers general manager A.J. Smith have been having disagreements over staffing after losing a number of assistants. Dean Spanos, the team president, told Schottenheimer on Monday that it wasn't going to work between him and Smith.
Three days after the Chargers melted down in a stunning 24-21 playoff loss to New England, 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.
"Right now, I wasn't comfortable accepting it," Schottenheimer told the Associated Press shortly after the season. He would have earned more than $3 million in 2007.
With a regular-season record of 200-126-1 with Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego, Schottenheimer is the most successful coach never to have reached the Super Bowl.
Strange move ???