Times-Advocate from Escondido, California • 25

Sports Business Thursday, February 9, 1989 Times -Advocate Henning is the man for Chargers Redskin assistant introduced today By Kevin Scattareggia Times-Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO The Chargers named Dan Henning today as the eighth head coach in the team's history. The announcement came at a late morning press conference at San Diego Stadium. The hiring of Henning, a Washington Redskins assistant coach last season, to replace Al Saunders, fired Dec. 19, brings to an end an exhaustive search that spanned 53 days and nine candidates. Henning's contract was finalized in a meeting this morning with Steve Ortmayer, the Chargers' director of football operations.

Henning arrived in town Wednesday night from his Vienna, Va. home. Although the Chargers, specifically Ortmayer, kept mum on the situation Wednesday, the confirmation of his imminent hiring came from several sources Wednesday. The club did not make an official announcement of Bob Gaines T-A Sportswriter Coach can rest after job well done SAN DIEGO Al Luginbill eased back in his chair. The Aztec head football coach was dressed to kill, but too tired to notice.

His eyes appeared heavy and his hair was a bit out of whack. His grin was sometimes guarded. Call it an emotional day. For three exhausting months, the Aztec coaching staff has been hot on the recruiting trail. bill and his nine assistant coaches flooded California.

The head coach personally visited 61 homes (until he lost count) while running up a zillion-dollar phone bill. Now, he awaited the results. Relax that long jaw, Al. It's over. Time to take a deep breath.

On Wednesday, Luginbill watched verbal commitments from recruits become binding national letters of intent. The Aztecs awarded 23 football scholarships. OK, the list did not include any Parade All-Americans and there were no congratulatory telegrams from Lou Holtz or Terry Donahue. And, sure, a few prize recruits got away. But Luginbill didn't need to sign any scrubs, either.

He landed some headliners, the players he really wanted. Yes, there were a few surprises, foremost being first-team AllState wide receiver Donnell Ragsdale of San Jose, who was recruited by "the world." And there's a hefty list of blue-chip All-Everything recruits led by quarterback Cree Morris of Orange Glen, wide receiver Jake Nyberg of Orange Glen, defensive back Will Tate of Southwest, dePlease see Gaines, page C4 Henning's record Year Team 1983 Atlanta 7 9 1984 Atlanta 4 12 1985 Atlanta 4 12 1986 Atlanta 7 8 Totals 22 41 Pos. 0 4th 0 4th 0 4th 1 3rd 1 Dan Henning the hiring until this morning when Henning's contract was signed. Both Ortmayer and Chargers owner Alex Spanos were unavailable for comment Wednesday. But news of Henning's arrival as the next head coach of the Chargers spread quickly.

The hiring of Henning finally and mercifully brings to an end the Chargers' long search for a head coach. Although the Chargers were the first NFL team to fire their coach when they axed Saunders, they were also the last to fill the position. The search took them through nine candidates, including Minnesota Vikings assistant Floyd Peters, former Cleveland Browns Coach Marty Schottenheimer, San Francisco 49ers assistant George Seifert, Dan Henning coach Al Luginbill pulled in some big ones with his former Cal and Illinois Coach Mike White, Chicago Bears assistant Johnny Roland, Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Lynn, Chargers offensive coordinator Jerry Rhome and Chargers special teams coordinator Wayne Sevier. Spanos, who cut short a business trip in New York, met Wednesday morning with Ortmayer at the Chargers' offices at San Diego Stadium. The discussion reportedly centered on finalizing the decision to hire Henning.

It was the first meeting between Spanos and Ortmayer since last week when Spanos had to leave San Diego because he was ill. Throughout the Chargers' long hiring process, Spanos has remained conspicuously quiet. For an owner who has taken such an active part in his team's dealings, it was strange. Spanos' relative silence in the hiring of a new head coach made it clear that this hire was Ortmayer's choice. With Henning's signing, the big question remains which assistant coaches will remain on Henning's staff.

Ortmayer has repeatedly let it be known that he wants his defensive staff to remain intact. However, he has also said that would be a decision that would be made by the new coach. Lynn, believed to be one of the finalists for the head coaching job, said he's been given no guarantee by Ortmayer that he would retain his job if he were not hired as the head coach. However, it's believed that Lynn's job, along with those of defensive line coach Gunther Cunningham and linebackers coach Mike Haluchak, is safe. On the offensive side, it's another story.

The team has already lost two offensive coaches, and may be on the verge of losing another. Rhome reportedly flew out of town Tuesday to interview for another job. Interestingly enough, when it appeared more likely in recent days that Henning was going to get the Chargers' job, word surfaced that Rhome and Henning didn't see eye to eye when both worked as assistants in Washington in 1987. Rhome denied the rumor. The Chargers have already lost tight ends Coach Dave Levy to the Detroit Lions and offensive line Coach Jerry Wampfler is close behind.

Wampfler said he has come to terms on a three-year deal with the Lions, which he will sign in the near future. Henning's most notable NFL coaching experience Please see Chargers, page C7 Clippers' win keeps them out of record books LOS ANGELES (AP) Norm Nixon figures the Los Angeles Clippers cost themselves some fame, and he's relieved that they did. "If we had tied the record, it would probably have been on the front page," the Clippers' guard said. "Since we won, it'll probably be on page seven." The Clippers missed their shot at NBA history Wednesday night by beating the Houston Rockets 114-111. Had the Clippers lost, they would have tied the NBA singleseason record of 20 straight defeats, set by the 1971-72 Philadelphia 76ers.

"It's good to get that monkey off our back," Nixon said after Los Angeles rallied in the fourth quarter to end its 19-game skid. In the process, the Clippers broke the -game personal losing streak of Coach Don Casey, the former assistant who replaced the fired Gene Shue on Jan. 19. "I kept having a nightmare that The bad I died and the obituary said I was the only NBA coach who never won a game," Casey said with a smile. "The darned streak was the worst.

No one paid attention to any of the good things we had I'm glad it (the win) came at home against a formidable team, with formidable veterans." Ken Norman scored 32 points and had 12 rebounds, and Gary Grant scored 10 of his 14 points in the final eight minutes as the Clippers rallied from an 87-75 deficit late in the third quarter. Nixon chipped in 10 points and eight assists, and Joe Wolf had 16 points. Akeem Olajuwon led the Rockets with 30 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots, but he fouled out with 1:27 remaining and Houston down 111-109. "We knew they would be hungry since they had lost 19 in Olajuwon said of the Clippers. Please see Clippers, page C4 boy from John Times Advocate far-flung recruiting net.

SDSU football Luginbill reels them in Times-Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO When what San Diego State football Coach Al Luginbill calls "the second season" came to an end Wednesday with the signing of 23 scholarship players to letters of intent, the new coach was smiling over his success. With barely a month to prepare for the recruiting rush when he took over for Denny Stolz on Nov. 14, Luginbill managed to put a staff together, assigned his coaches positions and regions and then hit the grueling recruiting trail. The results? Two all-state players, five promising local players, some huge linemen and a few risky projects. All in all, not bad for three months of work.

"We worked hard, spent a lot of hours on recruiting and visiting kids' homes, and I think it paid off," Luginbill said. "We competed with the Pac-10 schools for a lot of kids and we got a few of them. We realize that we're not a Pac-10 school and aren't going to be, but I think we can have our own identity. We'd like to be the Miami of the West, The five San Diego County players Luginbill signed were each first-team All-CIF this season, making it the most successful local recruiting effort at San Diego State since 1986, when Stolz got Vista's Tommy Booker, Fallbrook's Scott Barrick and Lincoln's Patrick Rowe. "We're excited about the local kids," said Luginbill.

"I'll take them against anybody from out of the state. You're never going to get all of the area kids, but I think we proved that we're going to give the other schools a dogfight from now on." But Luginbill's biggest coup may have come outside San Diego County. The best reflection of his aggressive recruiting strategy is the acquisition of wide receiver Donnell Ragsdale of San Jose's Oak Grove High. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder was selected -team all-state by California Football Magazine last fall after setting school records with 79 receptions (which ranked third in the state), 1,200 yards and 17 touchdowns. Aztecs keep trying to build 'Miami of the West' Tod Leonard only with better academics." By Sockers shut out Sidekicks By Tod Leonard Times Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO Socker Zoltan Toth, Hungarian to the core, is known for his superstitious nature.

But maybe it's beginning to rub off on his goalkeeping mate, Victor Nogueira. It's almost as if Nogueira peered into a crystal ball last week when he only half-kiddingly said that he and Toth just might shut out the struggling Dallas Sidekicks Feb. 23 when they play the MISL All-Star team. Reminded of that statement Wednesday night, Nogueira raised his eyebrows and laughed. "I was only joking," he said.

The Sidekicks didn't find it very funny. Nogueira made good on the prediction, albeit a couple of weeks early, by recording the first shutout in 93 MISL games this season, blanking Dallas 4-0 at the Sports Arena in front of 6,486 fans. The shutout was the fifth in Sockers' history and their third in the regular season. Jim Gorsek notched the last San Diego shutout, blanking his current team, the Los Angeles Lazers, 8-0 nearly two years ago to the day. But the shutout was only one of several reasons for the Sockers to celebrate: San Diego (14-12) stopped its three-game losing streak and took over sole possession of second place, three games behind the firstplace Baltimore Blast and one-half game in front of third-place Dallas (14-13) and Los Angeles (14-13).

Forward Zoran Karic, who was upset after being left off the MISL All-Star team in last week's voting, vented his frustration by scoring two goals in a game for the eighth time this season to bring his team-leading goal total to 23. Coach Ron Newman finally got the 500th win of his career, the most by any professional soccer coach in North America. "Getting to 500 wins is nice, but I'm more happy that we broke the losing streak," said Newman, who began his coaching career 20 years ago and recorded his first win with the Dallas Tornado in the outdoor North American Soccer League. "I told the lads that we needed to win the next two home games (against I Dallas and Friday versus Baltimore). We can really make up some ground if we do that." Nogueira, too, said he was more happy to get the win than the shutout, especially considering the shelling he received last Friday at home in an 8-2 loss to Kansas City, the Sockers' worst defeat ever at the Sports Arena.

"I wouldn't have really minded if they had scored a goal," said Nogueira, who lowered his league-leading goals-against average to 2.51. "But the entire team played well. It's like they really wanted to get the shutout." Said defender Kevin Crow, "I think we were embarrassed and mad at ourselves after the Kansas City game. We realized that we didn't Please see Sockers, page C7 Please see Aztecs, page C4 Sean M. Times Advocate Sockers' Alan Willey steals the ball from Dallas' Richard Chinapoo.

Brigham Young All-American Smith speaks his mind By Kevin Scattareggia ent situations has not always met Sportswriter with Andersen's approval. Calm Michael Smith will never be the has reigned recently, but earlier poster boy for Brigham Young bas- this season there was a major ketball. clash. The talent is certainly there. It came Dec.

10 during the The 6-foot-10 Smith was a sec- championship game of the Cougar ond-team All-American last sea- Classic at Provo, Utah, against St. son. Mary's. Reacting to what he termBut Smith's annoying habit of ed "derogatory yells" from the getting into little scraps with the bench, Smith told assistant Coach BYU coaching staff keeps getting Carl Ingersoll to "shut up." in the way. Although he is a devout Andersen immediately removed Mormon, Smith has continually Smith from the game for 10 minfound himself at odds with Coach utes.

Then, according to Smith, Ladell Andersen during his four- Andersen lashed out at him during year career. halftime. It's not that he tries to get into "Some of the things my teamtrouble. It's just that Smith says mates heard in the locker room at what he thinks. If you ask him a halftime, they were probably question, you'll get an answer shocked," said Smith, who will be even if it isn't the one you want to in action tonight when BYU visits hear.

Want an opinion? Smith will the San Diego Sports Arena to face gladly give you his ideas. San Diego State (8:30 p.m., ESPN, "He's got his own way of doing KFMB-760). things," said Andersen. Smith's way of handling differ- Please see Smith, page C7 Palomar All- an can handle hot pursuit By Chris De Luca of Wednesday night, Daugherty Times-Advocate Sportswriter was considering Oregon, MissisESCONDIDO Duffy Daugh- sippi and Idaho State. erty just laughs when he reads how Other Comets still waiting are some high school football players tight end Scott Carlovsky and wide get fed up with the recruiting pro- receivers Scott Weedman and cess.

Daugherty, sophomore Mike Jones. quarterback at Palomar College, Carlovsky, a former Orange loves to hear that phone ringing. Glen standout who was seventh in "They say that it's such a hassle the state in 1988, is interested in and they hate getting all the phone Idaho State. Weedman, from Escalls and they can't get their home- condido, is leaning toward Sonoma work done because the phone is al- State and Jones, from Vista, may ways ringing," he said. "Frankly, sign with Ohio University.

I'm thrilled when a coach calls me. Wide receiver Keith Helm and "That whole process is over- offensive lineman Joe Ward are alrated. We're not stupid. Hey, I was ready attending classes at in high school, I know, they are not Southern Utah. Another offensive studying that much." lineman, Brian Lasho, is at Fresno Today, Daugherty plans to sit State and linebacker Shawn Forright next to the phone, waiting for ristall is headed to Cal State Fulthe calls from coaches interested in All-American quarterback.

As Please see Palomar, page C7 an.