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SAN DIEGO -- Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer was fired Monday night in a shocking move by team president Dean Spanos, who cited a "dysfunctional situation" between the coach and general manager A.J. Smith.

Less than a month after San Diego's NFL-best 14-2 season was wrecked in a playoff loss to New England, Spanos cited the exodus of both coordinators and other assistants in firing Schottenheimer, who had a year left on his contact.

"This decision was so hard because Marty has been both a friend and valued coach of our team," Spanos said in a statement. "But my first obligation is always to do what is in the best interest of our fans and the entire Charger organization. I must take whatever steps are necessary to deliver a Super Bowl trophy to San Diego. Events of the last month have now convinced me that it is not possible for our organization to function at a championship level under the current structure. On the contrary, and in the plainest possible language, we have a dysfunctional situation here. Today I am resolving that situation once and for all."

Mortensen reported that Spanos told Schottenheimer on Monday that it wasn't going to work between him and Smith.

When told the situation between Schottenheimer and Smith was described by Spanos as "dysfunctional," Schottenheimer said "that's a pretty accurate description."

"I enjoyed time with all the players and coaches there ... we made a hell of a lot of progress," Schottenheimer told ESPN's Mortensen. "We had one the best records in football over the past three years. We're leaving behind a good football team and a great bunch of guys. They can't take away what we accomplished."

As for Schottenheimer's relationship with Smith, Schottenheimer said: "I don't know why it was so bad. Everytime I tried to get an explanation of why there was such a bad reaction, he always had the same rebuttal ... he didn't want to talk about it."

Spanos indicated in the statement that the Chargers will pay Schottenheimer for the last year of his contract.

Three days after the Chargers' playoff meltdown Spanos decided that bringing Schottenheimer back for the final year of his contract gave San Diego its best chance to win.

"Our fans deserve to know what changed for me over the last month," Spanos said in the statement. "When I decided to move ahead with Marty Schottenheimer in mid-January, I did so with the expectation that the core of his fine coaching staff would remain intact. Unfortunately, that did not prove to be the case, and the process of dealing with these coaching changes convinced me that we simply could not move forward with such dysfunction between our head coach and general manager. In short, this entire process over the last month convinced me beyond any doubt that I had to act to change this untenable situation and create an environment where everyone at Charger Park would be pulling in the same direction and working at a championship level."

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was hired as head coach of the Cowboys on Thursday, following offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and two other assistants out of town for better jobs.

Although Schottenheimer said last week that change was inevitable, Smith sounded concerned, saying, "Both in the same year -- Wow."

Tight ends coach Rob Chudzinski became Cleveland's offensive coordinator, and linebackers coach Greg Manusky was hired as San Francisco's defensive coordinator.

Running backs coach Clarence Shelmon, who's never been a coordinator, was promoted to replace Cameron. Shelmon accepted only a one-year contract due to what had been Schottenheimer's lame-duck status.

Three days after the 24-21 playoff loss to New England, Schottenheimer declined the team's offer of a $4.5 million, one-year extension through 2008, which came with a club-option $1 million buyout. Spanos and Smith seemed visibly angry that the coach turned them down.

Schottenheimer has been at odds with Smith since the 2005 season, apparently over personnel decisions by the GM.

With a regular-season record of 200-126-1 with Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego, Schottenheimer is the most successful coach never to have reached the Super Bowl.

His 5-13 playoff record has taken on a life of its own. The loss to the Patriots was his sixth straight in the postseason dating to 1993, and the ninth time a Schottenheimer-coached team lost its opening playoff game. His teams have failed four times to capitalize on the home-field advantage that comes with owning the AFC's No. 1 seed.

He was 47-33 in five seasons with the Chargers, including 35 wins and two AFC West titles in the last three seasons.

Led by league MVP LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers were thought by many to be Super Bowl-caliber. But they had four turnovers and made numerous other mistakes in losing to the Patriots, their first defeat at home in the 2006 season.

Speculation grew following the loss that Schottenheimer might be fired, due in part to the front office's expectations of a deep playoff run and his icy relationship with Smith.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Early speculation in some league circles is that the Chargers already have a wink-nod deal in place with USC coach Pete Carroll to succeed Marty Schottenheimer.

Jerry Jones's comment about how "2 coaches in the college top ten" called him about the cowboys job

Those two coaches were Les Miles, who once served as a Dallas Cowboys assistant coach, and Tommy Tuberville, who realizes the NFC is much easier to win than the SEC.

Bill Parcells.

That would be a fantastic move! Go from a coach who shits the bed in the playoffs to one who does it in the regular season...splendid choice, Malachi!

I predict Mora, Jr., just because he's the least sux0r of what's readily available.

Good idea, let's fire the 14-2 coach...maybe the next coach can do better, bwahahaha.

Pete Carrill