Schottenheimer thought about it and recommended his brother, Kurt, who had five years' experience as a coordinator. The idea was greeted with silence. Spanos reminded Schottenheimer of how he didn't approve of relatives being on the same staff and asked him to reconsider. He said the two could discuss other candidates when Spanos returned from the Pro Bowl in four days.

When they got together again, Schottenheimer remained firm that he wanted to bring in his brother. Schottenheimer's contract empowered him to choose his staff, but the veteran coach also knew that an owner's wishes trumps a contract's language. Clearly Schottenheimer was making a stand. During his five seasons in San Diego he often preached about the importance of "bright lines" to eliminate confusion about a person's role. By continuing to support his brother, he had to know he was drawing a line that Spanos would not allow him to cross. But he did it anyway because he already had lost two coordinators and two position coaches and he knew that 2007 -- the final year on his contract -- would likely be his last season with the Chargers. Ownership pretty much made that clear when it declined to offer him an acceptable extension a month earlier.

Schottenheimer figured that with only one season remaining on his deal -- and no relationship with Smith, whose personnel moves had won the support of Spanos -- he needed to be surrounded by people he trusted and respected if he was going to return. People such as his brother. So he refused to budge. Later that day he was fired.

Spanos cited the "dysfunctional relationship" between Schottenheimer and Smith as the reason for the move, but that was hogwash. Schottenheimer and Smith had barely spoken in a year and Spanos was fine with it. Plus, just a month earlier Spanos had announced Schottenheimer would return for a sixth season.

The dismissal was strictly because Schottenheimer stood up to the team owner. When he informed Schottenheimer of the change, Spanos told him he had never seen Schottenheimer act like that. He told Schottenheimer that he had changed. Spanos was right, of course. Schottenheimer was tired of feeling like an outsider in his own organization, so he drew a bright line and crossed. Then he collected his $4 million salary and returned to his offseason home in North Carolina, where he could spend time with his daughter and grandkids.

As popular as it is to lay the blame of Schottenheimer's ouster on Smith, Spanos is the one whose fingerprints were on the pink slip. There was no way he was going to allow an employee to openly defy one of his organizational tenets. So go ahead and rip Smith for hiring Turner, who came to town with a 58-82-1 record after failing in Washington and Oakland. But any venom about the firing of Schottenheimer will have to be spewed in another direction.

(Send comments to siwriters@simail.com)