Quotes from Dean Spanos, AJ Smith & Marty Schottenheimer

Wednesday, Jan 17, 2007 , Chargers.com

Quotes from Dean Spanos, AJ Smith & Marty Schottenheimer
Jan. 17, 2007

Chargers President Dean Spanos

(on what went into his decision)

“There were a lot of things that were discussed between A.J. and myself, but I think the most important thing is that I think he gives us the best chance to win next year.  It keeps the continuity of the team together.  There’s a tremendous amount of support by the players.  Those types of things were the things that were important to me.  There were a lot of other things that were discussed, but that’s between A.J. and myself.”

(on the importance of continuity)

“That’s probably the single biggest reason.  I have a lot of confidence in him and the coaches down there, and 14-2 is not a bad record.”

(on Spanos supposedly saying before the season that he expected the team to go deep into the playoffs)

“I don’t know where that quote came from.  If anybody has a copy of where I said that, I’d like to see that.  All I ever said if I remember, I said early on that I’d be disappointed if we didn’t go deep into the playoffs.  I don’t remember saying I expect to go deep.  I’d like to see that somewhere.  Maybe I said it, but I sure as hell don’t remember saying that.  There’s a big difference there.  You guys turned that around, but I don’t remember ever saying that.”

(on his personal level of disappointment)

“Of course I am.  I’m extremely disappointed.” 

(more on his decision)

“I think I gave you the general reasons.  There were a lot of things that were discussed.  I’ve just got a lot of confidence in this guy, and I think the players have a lot of confidence.”

(on how much input Spanos got from players concerning Schottenheimer’s future)

“None.  That was a decision…a discussion A.J. and I had for the last day and a half.”

(on being the only one that can hire or fire the head coach)

“That’s right. That’s true.”

(on the perception that Smith and Schottenheimer “don’t get along”)

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘don’t get along.’  If you’re saying do they not like each other? I don’t know what the question is.  They get along well enough in this organization for us to go 14-2.  They each have the same goals in mind, which is to win a championship.  One I think is a very good coach and one is a very good general manager.  We work well enough professionally during the year.  We’ve had issues, there’s no doubt about it, but we work well enough during the year to function properly and to field a team and go 14-2.”

(on the importance of Smith and Schottenheimer ‘getting along better’)

“I don’t really care.  Honestly, I don’t care as long as they do their jobs and they act professionally in this organization.  That’s all I care about.  You’re not in business to make friends.  If you’re friends, that’s great, but that’s not the primary reason that they’re here.  They do their jobs, and they do them adequately.” 

(on his satisfaction with Smith and Schottenheimer)

“Absolutely.  That’s right.”

(on the way Smith and Schottenheimer’s relationship has been handled)

“Like I said, when you say ‘not getting along,’ I’m not sure exactly what you mean by that.  They get along well enough for me during the season in our working relationship to have a successful organization and operation.  That’s fine with me, so I’m not exactly sure what you mean by that.”

(on Smith’s comments about Schottenheimer’s success coming because he has good coordinators)

“I think that’s a complement.  Who do you think hired the coordinators?  You’re only as good as the people around you. I think it’s an excellent choice of staff.” 

(on taking Schottenheimer’s playoff record into account while making the decision to bring him back)

“I think that’s always going to be a discussion obviously until he wins a couple of games, but you have to get there (to the playoffs) first.  The more times you get there, the more chances you have to win in postseason.  You can talk all you want, and you saw the game on Sunday and I read some of you guys out there, and you can’t blame that game on the coach.  That’s baloney.”

(on Sunday’s game being a loss or a botch?

“I’d say we lost the game.”

(on the role Alex Spanos had in the Schottenheimer decision)

“No.  None.  He’s upset about the game, I can tell you that.  He’s very upset.”

(on if he slept well Sunday night)

“No.  It was pretty hard to do anything, and Monday was a really bad day.  That’s why I said we really didn’t do anything on Monday.  (A.J.) and I talked for a day and a half.  Not even that.  Really one day.  I don’t think that’s exceptionally long.”   

General Manager A.J. Smith

“Coach wants to win a world championship.  He’s been a head coach for a lot longer than I’ve been a general manager, but I’ve been in the game in various capacities, and we all want to win a world championship.  He has views on it and I have views on it.  We exchange those views.”

(on Dean’s decision to retain Schottenheimer)

“Very much so.  The way it went down is we were disappointed Sunday.  Right after the game, Dean and I met.  The shocking situation of, ‘Boy we had a good football team … the best in football … home field throughout (the playoffs).’  We were absolutely excited about the whole situation.  (Then) we get beat.  What we did was we decided we were going to discuss it in a few days.  As you guys know, I discuss it and then go to (Dean) with recommendations.  We took Monday off.  Everybody thought (Dean and I) were meeting and I was meeting with Coach, but that wasn’t true.  Monday was kind of a day to reflect, let your emotions die, settle down and then come back.  Tuesday for me, I spent all day and all night with Dean, and also I talked with some players.  I won’t get into who they are.  It doesn’t really matter.  Offense, defense, special teams.  I wanted to get a pulse for the organization.  I wanted to get a feel for the morale.  I also talked to front office personnel.  I want to know what they think.  Also with our situation, I believe in a year-to-year situation no matter what contracts are, a year-to-year-to-year.  I’m pretty sure that I’m evaluated on a year-to-year basis regardless.  If I’m saying year-to-year, I’m expected to tell Dean, ‘Hey, I’m a year-to-year guy.’ We’re going to go one year at a time.” 

“I also talked to people in the League that I have faith in and (people) out of the League that are a little older and wiser than I am for sure.  I like to get a lot of information about the situation.” 

“The situation was are we going to continue with the head football coach, but first, before we get to organizational changes, which we also talked about but we’re not done with that – I’m talking about doctors, trainers, scouting department, all of my responsibilities to (Dean) – but the first thing, was the coach.  Once the coach was here, we have assistant coaches that have to be offered contracts.  First you say to the head coach, which it’s his responsibility, ‘Are you happy with your staff?  Do you want to make any changes?’  First of all, that’s Marty’s call.  But we’re talking about the head coach.  After all that information, I made the recommendation, which may surprise all of you, that we continue next year with Marty Schottenheimer based on the fact that we are so talented a football team.  The information that I got from everybody was that we’re so close.  We made some mistakes in that football game and still almost won it.  I just felt it was the best for this organization to continue.  Coach already had a contract.  That’s not a problem.  He’s got a contract.  So then we discussed, ‘What about a future contract?’ Well, we’re year-to-year, so Dean and I decided that we’d offer a contract, again, to our liking.  For the organization, the same principle that you’ve heard me say when dealing with players and agents.  We’re the football team.  We decide what direction we want to go in.  When we hear back, well Coach Schottenheimer decided that he was uncomfortable with that.  I’m not going to speak for him.  Whatever he wants to do with that.  That’s where we are this afternoon.” 

“There is no question when that last game (ended), Coach had a contract and the coaches do.  At the end of every year, I’m making recommendations whether we’re going to continue or not continue.  Is your point he was automatically coming back?  Not in my mind.  We had to stop and think.  That was just my recommendation.  I’m just the general manager here.” 

(on how much he and Schottenheimer meet during the season)

“From time to time.  We meet a whole lot more and talk a whole lot more than people think.  But aside from that, whatever the relationship is, whatever our views are, the one thing we want to do is win a world championship.  In saying that, this whole year has gone by and everyone has discussed that relationship.  We were 14-2, we had the best record in football and we had home-field advantage throughout (the playoffs).  I think that says something about two guys that are professionals that are doing their jobs.  I think together, however we do it, we got a lot of things done together.

(on the perception that Schottenheimer might have been let go because of one game)

“Speculation was all year, but we just won a lot of games and we teed it up.  We’re disappointed.  We just met and we just made an announcement and we’re looking forward to next year to get at it again.  That’s where we are.  We’ll just try to win a world championship and we’ll get at it again.”

(on how he would describe his relationship with Schottenheimer)

“Professional.  We both desperately want to win a world championship, and we share our views on that.  Sometimes they’re different views, but we express them.  All I know is the end results going into postseason with our record and home-field advantage throughout was something that I’m very pleased with and he’s very pleased with.  Then the game was played, the game was lost and we’re both upset, as well as Dean Spanos and everyone else in this organization.  Now we’re moving forward and we’re getting at it again. 

Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer

Opening Statement

“There’s obviously been considerable interest in the dialogue and on-going dramatics of the past several days.  Many of you, I thought, articulated it extremely well in the print media. 

“I’m excited to continue to be a part of this organization.  We’re looking forward to the upcoming season.  There’s been a lot of discussion about the possibilities of this thing, but I signed a contract, and I have and have had every intention of filling that contract.  We talked about another opportunity within the framework of another year.  I just wasn’t comfortable with that particular arrangement.  I think the most important thing for me quite frankly was that we’ve worked very, very hard here over the past five years and continue to do so as we move forward.  The players and the coaches and the investment that has been made by all of us, we still have work that’s undone.  It’s our intention to go back to work as is our custom and go at it in a way in which we can ultimately fulfill the ambitions of our organization and most importantly our fans. 

“Ultimately to me, it was really a non-issue to be honest with you.  I know that might not be the way everybody viewed it, but that’s the way I viewed it.”

What were you not comfortable with in accepting the extension?

“I looked at the possibilities and what that afforded us, and I thought…I was more comfortable proceeding forward frankly on the basis of the contract that I’d already executed.”

How did you explain to (your wife) leaving $4.5 million on the table?

“The great thing about that gal, she’s seen the best of me and the worst of me and she never changes.  That’s pretty special, as many of us know.”

What is your thinking in leaving the money on the table?

“When I looked at the whole picture, I just felt like we have this season to deal with. We’re only going to invest in and focus on this season.  The rest of it, it’s never been about who gets credit for the win or how the win gets accomplished, but the win itself.  I think in this situation, it’s in my best interest and in the organization’s best interest that we proceed on the basis that we entered to in this most recent contract.”

What does it mean to you that the players lobbied for you?

“It doesn’t surprise me, frankly.  Quite honestly as I said, the players are a very, very important part to me aside from what they do on the field.  I have great respect for what we’ve been able to achieve through their efforts and through the efforts of our coaching staff.  To me the opportunity to continue to work with them and see them develop as players, you’ve heard me say on a number of occasions, I live vicariously through the performance of these players.  It’s a treat when you get a chance to work with them and then watch them go play in a winning fashion.  What I’m anxious to do is find a way, notwithstanding the record, find a way to get over that hump.”

Did you expect to be back?

“Yes.”

Did you feel like you’ve been left twisting in the wind the last few days?

“No, I didn’t feel like I was twisting.”

Did any other teams request permission to speak with you?

“No, not to my knowledge.”

What’s the status of your assistant coaches?

“We are making right now an attempt to secure their services for an extension, one more year if you will.  At this point in time, we haven’t completed any of that, but that’s the intention, to try to do that.  We’ve got good coaches here and our hope is that we can keep them.”

Do you feel like a lame-duck coach and do you expect that to cause problems?

“I don’t know, I’ve never done it before. But believe me, I don’t think there are any circumstances there that can’t be addressed or issues that can’t be resolved. We have a good football team as we know. I was the one that said some time ago that it’s virtually impossible in my opinion to win if everybody isn’t exactly on the same page and that was clearly disproved. I don’t have all the answers and I recognize that.”

Do you have the confidence of the general manager?

“I haven’t spoken directly in that regard to him so I don’t know. I believe that at some point he’ll probably have an opportunity to answer that question, but I don’t want to speak for him though.”

What has life been like for you since the playoff loss?

“I had the good fortune that my daughter and her husband and both of her children, my son is still in town with his wife and two beautiful children and the majority of my time has been spent with them. And for those of you that have had the grand fortune of having grandchildren, I don’t have to describe to you the joy that they bring to you. They don’t really care about this sort of thing, it’s just ‘papa this, papa that’ so that’s where I spent the bulk of my time.”

How long did you meet with Dean (Spanos) and A.J. (Smith)?

“Fifteen minutes or so I guess.”

Did you speak to A.J. and what did he say to you, did he congratulate you on the season?

“We talked about it briefly there, yeah. I’m only interested right now in trying to move forward. It’s like I said to our players on Monday, we invest so much energy in what we do that at this point in time, there is a sense of disappointment and frustration and frankly it’s up here and then also there’s that sense of achievement that we were able to get through and perform the way we did and ultimately as we sit here at this point, we also recognize the fact that there is a period of time that as this thing goes on that you will begin to take those things that you achieved and you will have a higher position than the disappointment and it will have a balance and a perspective to itself. That’s how I’m looking at what happened. I just feel good about this football team. I enjoyed being around everybody that’s on this football team. I enjoyed being around the people in the organization. I mean, I walked down here and people in the building are applauding the fact that we’re moving forward. Well I thought we would always move forward. Somebody asked me ‘did I think this was going to happen?’ and absolutely, I didn’t have any questions about it.”

How can you be comfortable in this relationship with A.J.?

“I’m a tough, ornery old cus. I hope all of you would appreciate the fact that I only care about one thing, that’s winning football games. All the rest of this stuff is extraneous. They are matters of the day, but the bottom line is find a way to win the game. I’ve had a pretty good run at it and I’ve had a pretty good approach to it and that is that you focus on what you have a chance to affect today and you get that done, and then you go ahead and you begin the next day with the same purpose and ultimately what happens is you were able to put together enough pieces that you’re going to be able to get where you’re trying to go. I told any number of players in the exit meeting, I said I was proud of the way they worked, I was proud of what they achieved, I was proud of the coaches and I was proud of Marty Schottenheimer.”

Is it not easier to win if everybody in the organization is supporting each other?

“I didn’t see 14-2 because these things that we refer to as issues, they existed. To me, I surprised myself a little bit, quite frankly. The most important thing to me, and you’ve heard me say this before, is I’m about the players. Somebody said to me are you a players coach and I said I don’t know, you’d have to ask the players, but there is no doubt that I have a particular interest in them as people probably more so than as players because that’s what drives me and these relationships with these people and these players. It’s that interaction or that dynamic, whatever you want to call it, because at the end, I’m going to be about the players and the coaches, these people that are a part of what we do.”

Is your relationship with A.J. the reason you didn’t sign a contract extension?

“No. Unequivocally, no.”

Was your decision not to accept the extension because you expect the market to go higher?

“It has nothing to do with either of those. I just felt that right now I wasn’t comfortable accepting it. I appreciate the fact that it was extended to me. Some people would say that I’m at my best when the pressure is on. I don’t necessarily share that and I’m sure that some of you don’t either, but the fact of the matter is I like San Diego. I like what went on in that stadium for the first 45 minutes or whatever it is. The community has embraced us. We’ve had some measure of success. All of those things are a factor in my mind because right, wrong or indifferent, my interest is in people.”

Did you counter the team’s offer?

“No.”

Was the offer made today?

“We had the discussion over the last few days, but the ultimate decision that I made was made actually last evening.”

When was the offer extended?

“Formally today, but it was discussed over the last couple of days.”

They don’t discuss an extension if they’re not inclined to bring you back…was there a period of uncertainty?

“That’s probably accurate. I felt throughout the whole discussion that I was going to be back.”

Why didn’t you take the extension?

“It may not make sense and for that I apologize, but the reality of it is, is that many of us take all the information that is available to us with regard to any matter and you process it. You consider A, B, C, D and more if necessary and then what you end up doing is you make a choice and that’s what I did, I made a choice. I’m very comfortable with fulfilling the contract which I signed several years ago.”

Is it accurate that the extension that you were offered is really only guaranteed for $1 million instead of $4.5 million and that you’re possibly leaving $4.5 million on the table?

“That is accurate. I think that’s a possibility.”

Is it your desire to be here beyond 2007?

“You know me, I’m one play at a time, one game at a time and one season at a time. I don’t ever look that far ahead. I really don’t. I’m 63 years old and I feel as good as I’ve ever felt. I love coaching and I love coaching this football team and you can take all the other aspects of this thing that may be of some value to others, but to me, those were the basic criteria. I like what I do, I’m good at what I do, I like this football team and I like this community. The response of our fans on Sunday was remarkable and it broke my heart that we weren’t able to get it done.”

Was this a worse loss emotionally than any of the playoff losses in Cleveland or Kansas City?

“Only because it happened just a matter of days ago, but anytime you lose in the playoffs, it isn’t the speed you’re going at the crash that kills you, but it’s the sudden stop and that’s what happens in the playoffs. I unfortunately know that all too well.”

Have you had a chance to reflect on some of the plays in the game, particularly the decision to go for it on fourth-and-11 early in the game and the decision to challenge the Marlon McCree fumble late in the game?

“With respect to the field goal, it was right on the cusp. It was right on the edge of where we determined going into the game, it was a bit into the wind and it was right at the 30-yard line, but I have to be very honest with you. I made a decision going into the ballgame that early in the game if the opportunity presented itself where we could make a play and in making that play give ourselves an opportunity to score a touchdown that’s what I was going to do and that’s what drove that decision. I was grasping on the play where I challenged the fumble and the interception. The play was of such significance that I just didn’t feel like I could let it go on the chance that there might be something there that would overturn it.”

Did Philip Rivers coming up to you on the sideline help influence your decision to challenge the play?

“That was my decision. It was a significant play and if there was any way to get it overturned than I wanted to take advantage of that because there’s times when you don’t exercise all of your challenges.”

Do you have any regrets that LT only touched the ball nine times in the second half?

“He did a terrific job for us. You can always look back and you’d wonder if you’d done this or you’d done that, but when you make those kinds of decisions, you don’t have the result at hand. You have to let it play itself out and some of them work and some of them don’t work.”

Did you think about running another play at the end of the game before attempting the 54-yard field goal?

“Eight seconds is the low number that you go for when you try your final kick. I felt like we were at a point where we had to take it then so we did so. You can’t expect to get another play off in eight seconds. Generally my number is 14 seconds that you could run a play and get it off and still afford yourself the opportunity to kick the ball.”

Should Rivers have spiked the ball earlier in that drive instead of running the clock?

“We work our way through that process all the time and no, I didn’t have that sense whatsoever. We were trying to get the play off and sometimes when you start to move the ball like that, you’re better off to go ahead and snap the ball because you kind of have them on your heels. You have a rhythm going and you want to keep your rhythm going so no, I wasn’t concerned about that at all.”

What was behind Keenan McCardell’s lack of playing time?

“We’ve used Vincent (Jackson) more of late and of course Eric (Parker) as well and really, he’s become our third receiver. He starts most games, but he’s used as a second and a third.”

Was there anything said in the meeting today about you and A.J. making a fresh start?

“Not in that context, no. We’re all working to try to get to the same point in time. Of that, there is no doubt in my mind. It’s just a matter of us going about it daily in a professional way and you do that.”

Has it crossed your mind that you’ve won 14 games without having a good relationship?  Is that necessary?

“I haven’t thought about it. We will continue to work together and hopefully we’ll continue to be as successful as we have been.”

How do you feel about the support you have received from other coaches and media around the country?

“It makes you feel very good. It’s like I said at times in the past that ultimately you have one person you have to satisfy and that is yourself, in whatever you choose to do. I think each of us individually, we have an understanding of the task, we have a plan and we go to work on the plan and we try to put it into place. Then, at the end you know whether you got the job done or you didn’t get the job done and it really is just a matter of how you, the individual feel. I can’t be influenced by the feelings and opinions of others. I certainly listen to what is said, but there may be times when people think I’ve done a great job and I think I’ve done a lousy job. I’m the one that ultimately has to make that judgment. That’s the judgment that I think is of the most value.”

Do you have an opinion on why your playoff record is what it is?

“I have no idea.”

Can you still maintain that you don’t coach any different in the playoffs? I don’t recall you going for it on 4^th-and-11 in the regular season.

“That decision that I made was made before I got out of the locker room, that if I got in that situation where we were on the edge…I told Nate (Kaeding), ‘This is no reflection on you.  I don’t question you can make this, but my feeling is that we’ve got a play that we can make it.’  I made the decision in the locker room that if we found ourselves in that specific circumstance, we were going to go for it because I wanted our players to know that we came there to win the game, not to try to play it close as it were.”

So that’s not any different than a game in September or October?

“No.  The important thing to me was that it was early in the ballgame.  In other words, whatever happened, you had the opportunity to recover from it, and clearly we did throughout the game.  Now ultimately other events occurred, and they win the game.

I’m sorry to ask again about Marlon (McCree’s) situation, but did you give any thought to the fact that you might lose a timeout and not have it if you challenged the play?

“No I did not.  My sole thinking was that this play is of such magnitude that we’ve got to see if there wasn’t something there that gives us a chance to have it reversed.”

So you thought it wasn’t going to be reversed?

“I didn’t think we had much of a chance, but I felt the magnitude of the play was such that it was worth taking a shot.  You’ve got several (challenges), and you’ve got a chance to use them.  That’s what drove that decision.”

What are your thoughts on what LaDainian Tomlinson had to say about New England’s celebration?

“You know, I’m old school.  I don’t think there’s any place for that.  I’ve always believed that in victory, leave the defeated with some dignity.”

So you’re on LT’s side in this one?

“Absolutely.”

How do you feel about Shawne Merriman’s sack dance?

“I tend to enjoy it because it means we just had a good play.”

How is that different than what the Patriots did?

“He didn’t go out and do it in the middle of the field.  I don’t see him doing it on the lightening bolt.  There is an emotion that is a part of the game, but when the game is over, I really don’t think that there need be that type of activity.  I’m sure what will happen is somebody from somewhere will criticize me and tell me that I should mind my own business, but the fact of the matter is when it comes to things of this nature, I think the National Football League and what it stands for is far more important than that act that we saw.  I was very disappointed in it, and I think probably…well, I don’t want to speak for Coach (Bill) Belichick, so I won’t.”

Isn’t that just an extension of what goes on during the game?

“It might be, yes.  I think that we see plenty of that.  I’m not an advocate or a fan of it at any time, but when the contest is over, I’ve always said to our players in games that we’ve won, big games that we’ve won, I’ve told them in the locker room generally, that one occurred before everyone left the field, but I’ve always said, ‘In victory, give the opponent some sense of dignity in what you say and what you do.’  I believe that.

What happened to Eric Parker Sunday?

“It was a bad day for the young man.  I felt terrible for him.  He’s back there returning punts because he’s the most sure-handed guy that we have.  We all understand this, but those plays were material to the outcome of that game, but had the outcome been a victory for us, it would have been a lot easier for him to deal with it.”

What did you tell Drayton Florence and Shane Olivea after their personal foul penalties?

“I think that given the fact that this is an audience of young people that we probably couldn’t go to it specifically, but I was very, very upset about it.  There’s no reason for that.  It was very disappointing.  It’s hard enough to win in this game when you don’t do things like that.”

Do you coach McCree to bat the ball down in that situation?

“No because quite honestly, and the interesting thing about, of course I’ve looked at the play, and to me, the one that I would compare it to is the play, the Denver, “The Drive,” the ability to make a play.  It was amazing.  When I looked at the video from the sideline, he made a great play on this ball.  He read it perfectly and he reacted exactly the way…it was text book.  He came down in there and when he caught it, I’m looking at it on the sideline saying, ‘Well why didn’t he continue to the right as he did in the game against the Rams where he just took it and raced down the sideline?’  Well, then I look at the end zone, and I see that he didn’t catch the ball cleanly.  He actually bobbled the ball, and as he did, the ball went back behind him.  He turned his hips to get the ball secured, which he did, but now instead of going (toward the sideline), he was going inside and there was a defender there.  The guy made a great play on him.  If it’s a play at the end of the game, you think about batting it down, but that play, he’s looking at a big field position change possibly.  The interesting part, and I could be wrong, had he not juggled the ball, he would have been off running toward the Patriots bench and you don’t know how far he’d have gone.  In that scenario, no, you would not knock the ball down, but later in the game, you certainly would.”

On the two-point conversion when you were trying to call the timeout, did you see something?

“No, I was trying to get the attention of one of our players, and I wasn’t able to do that.”

Now that you’re back for 2007, how much say will you have on the personnel decisions?

“We discuss it in house relative to the college draft and the acquisition of possible NFL players.  Then we’ll go as we always do.  We’ll put those pieces together and find a way to get the 53-man roster met and we’ll move forward.”

Was there any conversation about a multi-year extension?

“No, we did not.  There was no dialogue about that.”

This isn’t a new one-year deal.  This is just your contract?

“I’m fulfilling the contract that I signed three years ago or whatever it was.”