Schottenheimer

During his nine-year tenure in Baltimore, coach Brian Billick often has delivered a great nugget of information, but the Ravens' front office obviously wasn't paying attention. Billick would say that the shelf life of an NFL head coach is 10 years, and that makes you wonder why the Ravens signed him to a four-year contract extension at the end of last season. We all know why Billick signed. He couldn't wait to complete an agreement that reportedly pays him $5 million per season. But it was a mistake to sign Billick to an extension of that length.

The Ravens' search for a new head coach promises to intensify quickly, starting with a visit today by Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, then continuing when the team interviews Jacksonville offensive coordinator Chris Palmer by midweek.And the effort to replace Ted Marchibroda could get especially interesting if Kansas City Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer becomes available.Schottenheimer, 55, coming off his first losing season since he took over in Kansas City in 1989, could resign this week, according to television reports yesterday.

Two more NFL head coaches were hired yesterday and another one resigned, but the Ravens still have an opportunity to hire a quality assistant for their top position, including Jacksonville offensive coordinator Chris Palmer, who will visit the Ravens today.The Green Bay Packers hired Ray Rhodes, the Philadelphia Eagles named Andy Reid and Marty Schottenheimer resigned from the Kansas City Chiefs. The Ravens, according to a team source, rated Schottenheimer the third-best candidate behind Mike Holmgren and George Seifert.

When the Green Bay Packers claimed wide receiver Andre Rison last Nov. 19, coach Mike Holmgren said he didn't want to hear why Rison had a habit of wearing out his welcome with teams in the past."

A year ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were in the catbird seat.They took the NFL's best record (13-3) into the playoffs and had a home-field ticket to the Super Bowl.It all fell apart when they were stunned by the Indianapolis Colts, 10-7, in their divisional playoff game. That started a free fall that left the Chiefs on the outside looking in for the playoffs this year: They went from 13-3 to 9-7 and now appear to be in turmoil.It starts at the top, where general manager Carl Peterson has yet get a new contract to replace the one that expires at the end of next month.

The Kansas City Chiefs appeared to be a team headed downhill last season.They struggled to a 9-7 record and were bounced out of the playoffs in the first round.There were whispers that coach Marty Schottenheimer didn't get along with general manager Carl Peterson.Toss in the fact that quarterback Joe Montana retired and the Chiefs figured to be at the bottom of their division this year."I was frankly amazed at some of the predictions I saw," Peterson said. "People thought that without Joe, we would crash and burn and become just an average club."

KANSAS CITY -- Joe Montana, who has done just about everything there is to do in the NFL playoffs, is now ready to tackle what might be his toughest task: making Marty Schottenheimer a playoff winner.Schottenheimer, the Kansas City coach, and Montana, who'll play his first playoff game in a Chiefs uniform against the Pittsburgh Steelers today, are something of an odd couple in the playoffs.Montana is one of the most successful playoff performers in NFL history.He and Terry Bradshaw are the only quarterbacks to win four Super Bowls, and Montana is 14-5 in playoff games as a starter.

Marty Schottenheimer, the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, will never be known as a wild and crazy guy.That's why it was so surprising last week when Schottenheimer showed up at a news conference wearing a turban and appearing to peer into a crystal ball.In a perfect sound bite for the TV cameras, Schottenheimer said, "Montana . . . Joe . . . It's very cloudy . . . Some sense of uncertainty . . . Percentages are 50-50."Schottenheimer then removed the turban and said, "I hope I made my point.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- They hyped this Joe Montana-John Elway thing as if they were combatants in the late-night television wars or something. And, come to think of it, what with all the penalties and punts and such, maybe they were.It was well past midnight in the East before they put an end to this dismal, little exercise. Montana was OK. Elway was OK. The game was awful. The game was worse than awful. The Chiefs beat the Broncos, 15-7.Montana vs. Elway.Wasn't the last one terrible, too?Montana vs. Elway.

Dan Reeves said he thought he was past the point of being amazed by John Elway's feats."Every time you think you've seen everything you can possibly see, something like Sunday happens," the Denver Broncos coach said last week.What happened last Sunday was that Elway -- who hadn't put a touchdown on the board in three games -- engineered two DTC touchdown drives in the last quarter to give the Broncos a 20-19 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.Just another fourth quarter at the office for Elway.

If the Ravens want to regain respect around the NFL, their only recourse now is to hire Marty Schottenheimer as head coach. Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett turned down the Ravens' offer yesterday, putting the Ravens in the same embarrassing class as the Atlanta Falcons, another team that can't find a head coach. The offensive coordinators from the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns have declined to interview for the Ravens' job. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher weren't interested.

The Ravens have recently talked with veteran NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer about their head coaching vacancy, Schottenheimer's agent said yesterday. "There's been some discussion but nothing substantive," said Trace Armstrong, a former NFL player who represents Schottenheimer. Schottenheimer, 64, is expected to wait until the Ravens are done with the first round of interviews before speaking with them again. The hiring of Schottenheimer would entail the least amount of risk in replacing Brian Billick.

I'm not disappointed that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will not interview with the Ravens. McDaniels is only 31, and that would have been a major factor if the Ravens had hired him as head coach. How could a coach that young walk into the Ravens' locker room and tell players such as Ray Lewis, Derrick Mason and Chris McAlister what to do? The Ravens just need to be patient. So many times, teams go after the hot coach, or look to find the candidate who coaches an area where they were weak in the previous season.

The Ravens' search committee engaged in an all-day meeting yesterday to discuss potential coaching candidates. While team officials aren't about to mention possible successors to Brian Billick, they do have one prediction. "I think that any potential head coach that looks at Ozzie Newsome's history of drafting Pro Bowl players and sees the Pro Bowlers [already on the team] ... will put us on top of their list," said owner Steve Bisciotti, who will meet with the search committee again this morning.

During his nine-year tenure in Baltimore, coach Brian Billick often has delivered a great nugget of information, but the Ravens' front office obviously wasn't paying attention. Billick would say that the shelf life of an NFL head coach is 10 years, and that makes you wonder why the Ravens signed him to a four-year contract extension at the end of last season. We all know why Billick signed. He couldn't wait to complete an agreement that reportedly pays him $5 million per season. But it was a mistake to sign Billick to an extension of that length.

Peyton Manning survived the backlash of Baltimore. Now the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts gets one more crack at the salty New England Patriots and the elusive Super Bowl. The Colts and Patriots earned berths in the AFC championship game next week with two road upsets in a surreal divisional playoff round. Manning's reward for beating the Ravens on Saturday is a chance to shed the big-game albatross that San Diego Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer couldn't yesterday. Manning will face the team that has tormented him more than any other in his career and twice knocked him out of the playoffs.

SAN DIEGO -- Perhaps San Diego Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer is simply cursed in the NFL playoffs. With victory within grasp in an AFC divisional playoff against New England, Schottenheimer's Chargers, the top seed in the conference, made enough mistakes to give life to nearly beaten New England and allow the Patriots to escape with a 24-21 win at Qualcomm Stadium yesterday. The Patriots, the No. 4 seed, advanced to the AFC championship against the No. 3 Colts in Indianapolis on Sunday.

Marty Schottenheimer carries the ponderous weight of expectation into the NFL playoffs. His San Diego Chargers have the best record in the league and home-field advantage for the tournament. They have the NFL's sack king on one side of the ball and the rushing champ on the other. In Schottenheimer, however, they have a veteran coach who has never been able to transfer regular-season success into postseason profit. Therein lies the rub for the 14-2 Chargers. They have the No. 1 seed with a coach who has failed miserably three times before with the No. 1 seed, a coach who has not reached the Super Bowl in 12 playoffs and 20 full seasons of trying.

The next time you watch a replay of Sunday's game-winning touchdown pass for the Ravens - you'll see it, you'll see it - take your eye off the ball and check out what happens at the line of scrimmage. Check out the San Diego Chargers rushing just three men. That's right, after hounding and pounding Ravens quarterback Steve McNair for more than 59 minutes, the Chargers suddenly took their foot off the gas pedal with the game on the line. They let McNair have all the time he needed, and he beat them.

If Brett Favre had to decide on his future today, he says he likely would retire. But his interview, which aired Sunday on ESPN, didn't set off any alarm bells for new Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy. "Well, he doesn't have to make a decision today." McCarthy said yesterday. McCarthy says Favre's comments, the quarterback's first since the end of his only losing season with the Packers, are a natural reaction for a veteran player coming off a frustrating year. He said the comments weren't drastically different from what McCarthy heard when they met at Favre's home in Mississippi this past weekend.