With or Without Saunders, What’s Next for Chargers? : Ortmayer Won’t Deny Report That Firing Is Near

Steve Ortmayer, questioned repeatedly and point-blank Thursday, refused to deny a published report that the Chargers have decided to fire Coach Al Saunders as early as next week.

Ortmayer, the team’s director of football operations, left the Chargers’ stadium offices early in the afternoon for a dinner engagement in Los Angeles. But before he departed, he also refused to comment on Saunders’ immediate coaching future with the team.

“The only thing that is on my mind, and, I would assume, on Al’s mind right now is our game against the Chiefs Sunday,” Ortmayer said. “We really want to win the last two. We really want to win four of the last six.”

Charger owner Alex Spanos was unavailable for comment.

Informed of the report immediately after practice, Saunders told reporters: “I’m just worrying about the game Sunday. I have not heard anything like that at all from anybody in this organization.”

Asked to respond to the idea that winning or losing in Sunday’s season finale against Kansas City apparently won’t matter, Saunders said, “I have no comment. I have never been told that by anybody. I’m working hard to make sure we are as well-prepared as we can possibly be for this game.”

Charger players and assistant coaches responded differently to the news that Saunders might be out of a job as early as Monday.

“If that’s the case, I feel bad because I don’t think it’s his fault,” said right guard Dennis McKnight, a Pro Bowl alternate and highly respected team leader. “It’s got to be the players’ fault because we’re on the field doing the playing. As an offense this year, we committed more penalties than any offense here in who knows how long.

“We had a guy retire (tight end Kellen Winslow). We lost the greatest quarterback (Dan Fouts, retired) who ever played the game. We had a premier guy (Pro Bowl tackle Jim Lachey) traded that we were not counting on losing. Knute Rockne and George Halas couldn’t have done anything with those things happening against them in my opinion.”

But, said defensive tackle Joe Phillips, “If that’s the way it is, that’s the way it is. I’ve given Al 100%. Whoever comes in, I’ll give him the same.”

The reactions came in response to a story in the Thursday editions of the San Diego Tribune, attributing Saunders’ reportedly imminent dismissal to “sources within the organization.”

Shown a copy of the paper, Jerry Rhome, the Charger offensive coordinator, looked as if he had just seen a ghost. “Nobody’s told me that he’s gone,” Rhome said. “I don’t know what to say except if it’s true, it’s sad.”

“It says ‘one club official,’ and it doesn’t even have a name in here,” Rhome said as he read the story. “I don’t understand why somebody’s even talking like this. I mean why don’t they just come out and say it if they’re going to say it instead of ‘unknown source’ or ‘top official.’ I don’t understand that. That doesn’t even make any sense. I mean why don’t they just say it.”

At no point did the Tribune story quote an “unknown source.”

“Alex (Spanos) has said all along that he isn’t going to make any decisions until the season is over,” Ortmayer said.

But a high-ranking Charger official told The Times: “He (Spanos) has probably decided what he wants to do.”

Saunders, 41, has 3 more years on a contract that reportedly pays him $175,000 a year. He took over for Don Coryell in 1986. His record as a head coach is 16-22. But his team has lost 16 of the past 21 games.

Former Raider Coach Tom Flores, living in the Los Angeles area and rumored to be a candidate for the job if Spanos fires Saunders, was out of town and unavailable for comment.

“At this point in the year there’s always speculation among teams that haven’t won as many games as they’d like,” said Ron Lynn, the Charger defensive coordinator. “Until something happens, I don’t have any comment on the thing.”

Lynn did say there has been no contact between him and Stanford University concerning that school’s recently vacated head coaching job. He said his name was linked to the job recently in a Bay Area newspaper.

“I’d like to be a head coach at some point in time,” Lynn said. “And Stanford University is a unique place. I wouldn’t necessarily say yea or nay. I think you have to look at each one on an individual basis. But I haven’t spoken to anyone from Stanford or their athletic department or anything like that. I haven’t submitted any kind of resume.”

Spanos reportedly was furious with Saunders early last month when Saunders publicly compared his own players unfavorably to players on the Raiders. Saunders’ players weren’t too happy either. “I could say what I felt,” Phillips said. “But I think it would come out pretty derogatory.”

If Saunders loses his job, Lynn and Rhome would almost certainly merit consideration as successors. Ortmayer and Saunders have never really been “on the same page” philosophically. Retaining either of the two top assistants would enable the 1989 Chargers to keep the present continuity.