Schottenheimer, Chargers Are Close

Marty Schottenheimer and the San Diego Chargers negotiated contract details on Monday, and a news conference introducing him as coach wasn’t expected until today.

Amid reports that he’d agreed in principle to a four-year deal to take over a team that has won only six games in two seasons, Schottenheimer met for much of the day with owner Alex Spanos, team President Dean Spanos and General Manager John Butler.

At mid-afternoon, Alex Spanos left Charger headquarters. Asked if he had a new coach, Spanos shrugged and said: “See you tomorrow morning.”

Neither Butler nor Schottenheimer’s agent, Tom Condon, returned phone calls seeking comment.

Schottenheimer, 58, has been the leading candidate since he was fired by the Washington Redskins on Jan. 13, opening the way for the Redskins to hire Steve Spurrier.

Schottenheimer, who would be San Diego’s fourth coach in six seasons, interviewed with Butler and Dean Spanos in Las Vegas on Jan. 17.

The Chargers and Condon had hoped to have a deal done by Thursday, after two days of face-to-face meetings in Mobile, Ala., where Butler was scouting Senior Bowl workouts.

But a snag developed, apparently over how much salary the Chargers will pay Schottenheimer, who was 8-8 last year in his only season as the Redskins’ coach.

He is owed $7.5 million over the next three seasons by the Redskins, who fired him after he refused to surrender authority over player personnel matters.

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Lee Flowers blamed the Pittsburgh Steelers’ failure to make the Super Bowl on his teammates’ inability to take special teams seriously enough.

The strong safety said that some younger players--he didn’t name names--lack the desire to be good and probably should be cut. He also said the Steelers should begin using starters on special teams.

Two special teams breakdowns--a punt return touchdown and a blocked field goal return for a score--allowed the New England Patriots to upset the heavily favored Steelers, 24-17, Sunday in the AFC title game.

Flowers, admittedly still upset, said the Steelers would be in New Orleans if they had made more of a commitment to special teams.

“We’re not taking it seriously enough to be a dominating team,” Flowers said. “We dominated most teams on defense and offense, but to have the game before you go to the Super Bowl come down to two returns on special teams ... is very disappointing.

“At some point, players need to buckle down and stop being babies and blaming stuff on the coaches. They give us a plan and they’re paying us all this money, it’s our job to get it done.”

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The Denver Broncos promoted Ted Sundquist to general manager and made former GM Neal Dahlen the team’s director of football administration.

Sundquist, 39, a rising star in the organization, has been director of college scouting since 1996 and in May was a candidate to become general manager of the Chicago Bears.