Report Says Kansas City Will Hire Schottenheimer

A Cleveland television station reported Friday that Marty Schottenheimer, regarded as one of the top candidates to succeed Al Saunders as coach of the Chargers, will be named coach of the Kansas City Chiefs on Tuesday.

WJW-TV, citing an anonymous source, said Schottenheimer would take over for Frank Gansz, who was fired by the Chiefs after the season. The Chiefs declined comment. Carl Peterson, the new president and general manager of the team, has said the coach would come from a list of seven candidates, including Schottenheimer.

Schottenheimer, who quit as coach of the Cleveland Browns after a loss to Houston in the playoffs Dec. 24, was the first person interviewed outside the Charger organization.

Steve Ortmayer, the Chargers’ director of football operations, has subsequently met with George Seifert, the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator; Floyd Peters, the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator, and Dan Henning, receivers coach for the Washington Redskins and former head coach in Atlanta.

Also interviewed for the job were three Charger assistants: defensive coordinator Ron Lynn, offensive coordinator Jerry Rhome and special teams coach Wayne Sevier.

Ortmayer was unavailable for comment Friday. Last week, he said: “I’ve said from the start that Marty Schottenheimer is probably the most qualified under the guidelines we’ve set.”

The Chargers originally had said they wanted a new head coach by the end of February but recently accelerated that schedule. One reason was competition from the Chiefs and Browns over potential candidates.

Schottenheimer quit the Browns on Dec. 27 after refusing owner Art Modell’s demand that he relinquish the duties of offensive coordinator. Schottenheimer had a 46-31 record in 4 1/2 seasons with Cleveland.