Henning Begins Thinking About His Second Season : Chargers: Among other things, Jim McMahon is facing a backup role. But would he accept that?

It has gotten so bad for the Chargers that their director of football operations, Steve Ortmayer, has stopped talking to reporters about the team he put together for Dan Henning. The Chargers are 4-9 and their owner, Alex Spanos, a man who once relished reading his words in the sports pages, has faded to black.

It has been left for Henning, in his first year as head coach, to be the team’s spokesman. His daily press briefings often become contentious. And when they do, he usually responds with short sentences and a tight lip.

Earlier this week, however, in a private but on-the-record conversation, Henning opened up to questions about the needs his team must address before the end of the season, before the 1990 draft and before training camp begins next summer.

At the top of the list was the future of troubled quarterback Jim McMahon. Henning said it is uncertain. “I don’t know if Jim’s the Earl Morrall type or the Don Strock type,” Henning said. “I think Jim has to assess himself. He could be good at it (being a backup). But whether his nature would let him, I don’t know. If he assesses it, he would have to decide what he would be willing to do.”

Henning also talked specifically about improving the quality of the team’s offensive tackles; finding a wide receiver whose talents are “a little above or just below” those of Anthony Miller, the team’s leading pass catcher, and of getting a back with “different types of qualities, a Thurman Thomas type or a big guy.” Buffalo’s Thomas is second in the league in rushing.

Henning said he holds out little hope of unsigned running back Gary Anderson ever playing for the Chargers again. And Charger sources agree. They say Ortmayer wanted to offer Anderson a contract loaded with easily attainable incentives but a contract that would protect the Chargers in the event of injury. They say Spanos refused to allow Ortmayer to present the offer to Anderson.

Henning talked candidly about McMahon. It is Henning’s fervent hope that rookie Billy Joe Tolliver, who will make his third NFL start Sunday in Washington, continues to improve enough to justify retaining him as starter for the last two games. Tolliver would then have time in the off-season to familiarize himself with Henning’s complex offense and firmly establish himself through mini-camp and the preseason as the team’s No. 1 quarterback.

Which would leave the high-priced and game-hungry McMahon on the bench. Can Jim McMahon be happy as a backup?

“That,” Henning replied, “will be the question. He would have to be happy if that scenario presented itself.

“But the game is the thing that turns Jim on. The game and the actual day-to-day practicing is the only thing now that turns him on. Other than that, he’s not into the game like a coach would be.”

Morrall and Strock made careers out of being thirty-something quarterbacks. Their knack was their ability to come off the bench and play as if they hadn’t missed a down all season. Morrall relieved Johnny Unitas in Super Bowl V and preserved a 16-13 victory for the Colts over Miami. Strock, 39 and still on Indianapolis’ roster, was the Dolphins’ offensive hero in a memorable 41-38 Charger victory that got the Chargers into the AFC championship game in 1982.

But when Ortmayer traded for McMahon last summer, all he could talk about was McMahon’s record as a starter. McMahon’s record as a Bear starter in 38 games since 1984 was 35-3. But hindsight now tells us that much of that record was attributable to McMahon’s supporting cast in Chicago. Mike Tomczak, a decidedly less talented quarterback than McMahon in his prime, was 16-3 as a starter with the Bears from 1986 through 1988.

McMahon’s record as a starter with the Chargers is 4-7. He is an ‘old’ 30 because of injuries. And he is in the last year of a contract that is paying him $800,000 this year. Endorsements and royalties have made him independently wealthy. Unlike Mark Malone, who took a pay cut to play for the Chargers last year, McMahon has an ego bigger than the Hotel Del Coronado. It is hard to imagine him as a backup, playing for less money.

“I sure would like to go at least one more season with three or four of these guys (quarterbacks) we have now,” said Henning, referring to Tolliver, David Archer, Mark Vlasic and McMahon.

In the same breath Henning talked about how “studious” Vlasic is. Vlasic has spent the entire season on the physically unable to perform list after a knee injury ended his 1988 season. Before the injury he had started two games, both Charger victories. “I don’t know what his (Vlasic’s) playing capabilities are,” Henning said. “But he’s certainly not laid back.”

Neither is Archer. Don’t underestimate the importance of the three years (1984-86) Archer played for Henning in Atlanta. And don’t underestimate the importance of the fact that McMahon, when he is not playing, shows little inclination to add expertise to sideline huddles during timeouts. He was the same with the Bears. And it didn’t go unnoticed.

When the Chargers got McMahon, they figured they had a tiger by the tail, one who would leave claw marks all over the league. Instead, he has done little more than rattle their own cage. When red-headed Tolliver told reporters he wouldn’t talk to them until after he showered following Sunday’s loss to the Jets, McMahon lit up like a brush fire. “You tell ‘em, Red,” he cracked. McMahon stopped talking to reporters weeks ago.

When searching for words to describe McMahon’s potential effect on Tolliver and the rest of the team next year, “cancer,” “poison,” and “divisive” leap to mind.

Another player Henning predicts will probably have to accept a backup role next year is running back Tim Spencer. Spencer is currently the Chargers’ leading rusher. But the difference between his attitude and McMahon’s is the difference between Gorbachev and Krushchev. Spencer has gained 519 yards. Rookie Marion Butts is second on the team with 419.

But Butts has improved to the point where Henning is now comparing him to a young Gerald Riggs. Riggs, now a Redskin, spent two years behind William Andrews in Atlanta. But when a knee injury effectively ended Andrews’ career, Riggs responded with 1,000-yard seasons in 1984, 1985 and 1986 under Henning.

In 1983, Riggs played about as much as Butts’ has played this year. He finished with 437 yards on 100 carries including a 40-yard touchdown run against the 49ers. Butts is seven carries shy of 100.

Last week against the Jets, Butts shrugged off injuries and scored on a 40-yard run, breaking at least five tackles. It erased any doubts about Butts’ potential. And it appears to have convinced Henning that Butts can be the Chargers’ “one-back” in 1990 if they don’t find a better one in the draft.

“Buttsie has done a lot of the same things Riggs did,” Henning said.

The Chargers figure to pick in the top five of the first round in what scouts have described as a mediocre group of seniors. But agents, fearing the eventual installation of a wage scale, are advising many talented juniors to apply for this draft. The Chargers will benefit from that advice if the players fall in line.

Last spring the Chargers used the eighth pick in the first round to choose a defensive player--Burt Grossman. It was a good pick.

“We could always use another pass rusher,” said outside linebacker Leslie O’Neal. The Charger defense could also use another nickel back and another inside linebacker. But unless the Chargers load up with offensive linemen, backs and wide receivers during the Plan B free agency period, look for the 1990 Charger draft to be an offensive one. Henning wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the Chargers taking a defensive player in the first round. But, he said, “He would have to be of star quality.”

Henning was also blunt when he talked about his team’s need at kicker. Chris Bahr’s 37-yard miss that kept the Chargers out of overtime last Sunday might have punched Bahr’s one-way ticket out of San Diego for 1990. Henning also said he didn’t expect veteran center Don Macek, a backup this year, to return next season.

Henning’s biggest problem in judging the rest of Tolliver’s season is the vulnerability of the line in front of him. Neither of his starting tackles this Sunday will be playing the position they practiced at last week. “It’s always difficult to assess the assets and liabilities at that position (quarterback) unless things are stable around you,” Henning said.

The more Henning talks, the louder the silence from Ortmayer and Spanos. Are they leaving Henning to twist slowly in the wind while they quietly hope his attempts to answer questions will divert the focus from them? If so, Henning deserves better. He is a tireless worker and a bright football mind. His game decisions have been erratic. But he hasn’t run and hid from his team’s problems.

“If you make a decision and it works out, people think you’re smart,” Henning said. “If it doesn’t, they think you’re a dummy. I’m one or the other.”

Charger Notes

Charger Coach Dan Henning said he is glad the Chargers final three games are against teams (Washington, Kansas City and Denver) that will probably need to win for playoff considerations. The Redskins and Chiefs are fighting for playoff berths. The Broncos (10-3), who have clinched the AFC West, are still hoping for AFC home-field advantage in the playoffs.