Times-Advocate from Escondido, California • 49

TIMES-ADVOCATE, Escondido, Ca Wednesday, December 27, 1989 F3 Chargers Statistics Joe does By Gerald Eskenazi New York Times News Service go; Jets clean house enough damage for one day. Walton had been with the club feet in an interview, it will be a man with NFL experience, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS Final 1989 Stautica PASSING AVG TD INT Chargers -ntmued from page FI Close is not enough Instead of dwelling on its losing Henning preferred to out that his team was com- 'etitive." In the NFL, however, nipvtitive is a buzzword for I'ums that play, but cant win, 11 games. I ne Chargers were involved in mes decided by seven points Included in that number even games in which the innmg margin was three or less, a-wever, the club won only four i the 111 games. Nine of their 10 i sse were by a combined total of P'nnts. Their last four wins by only 15 points.

The eve of destruction RUSHING PUNTING for nine seasons, spending two years as its acclaimed offensive coordinator, and then seven as the head coach. He produced a 53-57-1 record. He said Steinberg had simply told him that he was going to make some changes. Which is the right thing to do, Walton said. Walton has two years remaining on his contract, worth about $400,000 a year.

He said, however, that Steinberg had not offered him another job with the team. Steinberg left little doubt of how he regarded the Jets operation. Since he took over he has repeatedly spoken of exploring all avenues free agents, trades. Plan Tuesday he went farther in discussing the way the Jets had assessed the rest of the National Football Leagues players. I wasnt happy with the pro-scouting setup as it was, no real evaluation of any players in the league, he said.

Just waivers, news of injuries and that sort of thing. The kind of stuff you could almost get from the Football Register. We want the whole total pro-scouting system revamped. RECEIVING Steinberg said. Were not interested in talking to a whole bunch of guys.

Wed like to narrow it down to a half dozen, maybe less. One of the dismissed assistants, Mike Faulkiner, suggested that Howard Schnellenberger, the head coach at the University of Louisville, was the man for the job. Schnellenberger was a head coach for the Baltimore Colts and led the University of Miami to a national championship. They need somebody with his presence, said Faulkiner, who had been the Jets defensive backs coach. He has that authoritarian look and feel.

In an unusual departure from most situations in which a coach is dismissed, Walton was at Tuesdays announcement. He was red-eyed following a 20-minute meeting with Steinberg, who was hired eight days ago as the club stumbled to a 4-12 season. Walton followed Steinberg to the podium of the Jets auditorium. After his announcement about Walton, the scouting staff, Hickey and Royer, Steinberg said without understatement, I guess thats niella said Christmas night: The reason Billy kept coming back was because he couldnt get the Yankees or managing out of his system. So strong was Billys addiction for managing the Yankees that he simply couldnt help himself even when it came to second-guessing longtime friends Yogi Berra and Piniella when they were in the job.

Steinbrenner obviously saw Billys lust for managing the Yankees and preyed on it. He kept bringing Billy back because he thought it was good showbiz. What Steinbrenner never seemed to understand was that each time he fired Billy, he took a little more out of Billy. It is awfully hard for anyone, fans or players, to take a manager seriously when hes been fired five times from the same job. But if Steinbrenner didnt see how much all the firings had taken out of Martin, Billy didnt see it either.

Much like an old fighter (which he was too often in the wee hours of saloons across the coun HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. The Jets General Manager, Dick Steinberg, officially cleaned house Tuesday. He dismissed Coach Joe Walton and his 10 assistants, accepted the resignation of Mike Hickey, whose college drafts had provided the bulk of the Jets players, and reduced the role of Jim Royer, who evaluated and signed pro personnel. In essence, the management by committee that had been in place in the Jets front office since 1978 is gone, and Steinberg now has absolute football authority. Steinberg said he would upgrade the Jets evaluation of other players in the league and would also try to monitor the clubs own scouting of players from college to the pros.

Meanwhile, he has to find a head coach. The only thing I can tell you is that unless were knocked off our Martin Continued from page FI ly when The Boss began to interfere as is his wont, Billy would go one-on-one with him. And the fans loved it. As the late Dick Young so perceptively put it: Theres something about a guy telling his boss to shove it that the guy on the street can really relate to. Eventually, however, Steinbren-ner wore Billy down, as he has done with all the others in between Billys managerial stints.

When Billy forcibly resigned in tears in July 78, the day after his infamous ones a born liar and the others convicted statement at OHare Airport, he was a broken man. And in all the subsequent Billy revivals, he was never the same. Indeed, with each successive term as Steinbrenners manager, Billy was less and less effective and more and more burned out. For, if he had an addiction to alcohol, he had an even stronger addiction to managing the Yankees. As Lou Pi- SCORE BY QUARTERS SCORING INTERCEPTIONS try), Billy could not see that his skills had been eroded by too many last calls and too many firings.

He could not see that he was not the same cunning, calculating and defiant manager he had been in 1976-77. He could not see that he had become a caricature of himself. In the end, so many in Billys legion of fans from the 70s had grown weary of the act Billy had become in the 80s. Those who remained his loyalists didnt want to hear the media reports of his drinking and losing control. They would just as soon kill the messenger.

So be it. This messenger would just as soon remember Billy for 1952 and the catch of Jackie Robinsons pop fly. And 1953, when he hit .500 against the Dodgers in the World Series. And Billy 1976 and 77, when he was a great manager. Let the other Billys and all the sad speculation of Billy VI blur into memory like so many late-night cocktails.

)-7 DflneHEQ-DDT Q'J Because So Much Is Riding On Your Tires. VEDB-EKI JP. I jg )ne category the Chargers irobably led the league in was 't il destruction. It came in all rms on offense, defense and -Iecial teams. I he offense had the ball 10 tines on its final possession with chance to win or tie the game.

1 he conv erted just twice, both lines on Chris Bahr field goals. The defense wasnt much bet-er in the clutch. The Chargers allowed their opponents to score a late game-winning touchdown -even times. Five times, the i mchdowns came on drives of 70 ards or longer. Three TDs were -cored with less than two minutes ft.

Hass (minus the and L) Seen by some as a savior, McMahon played himself right out if a job. Acquired from Chicago August, McMahon was valued lecause he would keep the Chargers car on the road and not drive it off the side, according to Ort-naver. However, by late season it was obvious that Jimbo could only drive if he was behind the wheel of an expensive foreign import. A four-door sedan like the Chargers required someone with a different touch. And with Tolliver in the wings, Jimbo was reduced to an $800,000 backup.

Jimbo responded in his usual classy way. First he emptied his nose on a reporter. Then he talking to the media alto-tether. Wonder if Jimbo noticed than no one missed him? The Leslie and Lee Show Few teams produced a pass-rushing combination as lethal as Leslie ONeal and Lee Williams. ONeal completed his remark-ible recovery from major knee -urgery three years ago.

The former defensive end was listed as an lutside linebacker but played more like a stand-up defensive end. The move paid off as O'Neal had 12l2 sacks, third in the AFC. The 25-year-old ONeal was appropriately voted to his first Pro Bowl. Its hard to ignore Williams after the kind of seasons he continues to compile. All Williams did in 89 was to record an AFC-high 14 -acks and to be selected for his -econd straight Pro Bowl start.

Williams accomplished this after being moved inside to tackle make room for rookie defensive end Burt Grossman. Young Guns Grossman and center Courtney Hall were in the starting lineup on ipening day. Both rookies had solid seasons that make it appear is if the Chargers could be set at hose positions for years to come. With the season looking hopeless three-quarters of the way through, Henning turned to the remainder of his rookie crop. In quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver ind running back Marion Butts, he Chargers may have found some of the answers for the future.

Grossman talked an All-Pro game before he evened signed his first pro contract. After a rocky start, the Pitt star warmed up to the NFL and his game caught up to his mouth. The rookie finished with 10 sacks. Hall was a model of consistency in replacing longtime starter Don Macek. At 21, Hall displayed maturity and playing ability that belied his years.

Tolliver was 2-3 as a starter after one of the worst rookie starting debuts ever: 6-for-17 for 4 1 yards at Seattle in Week 8. Tolliver failed to get the Chargers offense past midfield in three quarters. What a difference between the quarterback who led the club to wins in the last two games. Butts, a special-teams bruiser, finally showed up late in the year. He set a Chargers rookie singlegame rushing record for yards 176) and also broke the team mark for carries (39) at Kansas City.

Butts finished with 683 yards on 170 carries and nine touchdowns. Young guns, part II Even with their encouraging Now Thru December 30th Every tire in stock has been discounted to move out before year-end. There is no better time to buy! FIELD GOALS 1-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50 Bahr 00 6'6 6'9 4 '6 14 OPPONENTS 11 1112 1213 411 14 Dee-fense, dee-fense Under Ron Lynns steady guidance, the Chargers defense continues to improve every season. The Chargers finished sixth overall in the NFL, their highest-ever ranking. If not for the defense, there could have been quite a few more games like the opening-day 40-14 loss to the LA Raiders.

Instead, the Chargers were in all but that game. Inside linebacker Gary Plummer quietly led the team in tackles again. Cornerback Gill Byrd had seven interceptions for the second year in a row, then got unfairly snubbed at Pro Bowl time. On the other corner, Sammy Seale wore a target after Willie Gault tap danced on him on opening day. But after that, Seale improved as much as anyone on the team.

Plan B(ad) The NFLs newest attempt at free agency Plan helped some teams like the Green Bay Packers, who signed 20 free agents more than the others. However, the Chargers found little help from other teams retreads, despite being one of the more active teams. The Chargers acquired a pair of 31-year-old starting tackles Joel Patten and Brett Miller through Plan B. However, the team was so unimpressed with their play, they tried young, inexperienced linemen in their place. That experiment failed when the Chargers confirmed that former No.

1 draft choice James Fi-tzPatrick and Joey Howard couldnt play, either. Among the other Plan players, only unheralded Joe Caravel-lo made an impact. But then, blocking tight ends dont get much notice. The biggest bust was former Rams inside linebacker Jim Collins. After starting the first two games, Collins was Mil (missing in inaction) the remainder of the season.

Bahr, 36, ended the year with his best game, kicking four field goals against Denver, including a 52-yarder and a 45-yard gamewinning kick. For the season, Bahr was 17 of 25. Off the field In addition to the Anderson holdout, there were a number of other off-the-field stories this season. There was the case of linebacker Keith Browner, who retired during training camp. The next week it was revealed that he had been suspended by the NFL for failing a drug test.

Also on the drug front, the Chargers dealt drug-troubled linebacker Chip Banks to the Indianapolis Colts for a conditional draft choice. After Banks had undergone intensive drug rehabilitation, he wanted to join the Chargers this year. However, after Spanos reversed his long-held position and said Banks could return, but not until next season, Banks balked. Gpfe late-season performances, the jury is still out on both Tolliver and Butts. Tolliver appears to have a decent chance to be an impact player.

However, inconsistency remains his biggest foe. Early in a couple of starts, Tolliver looked like he was still being introduced to the position. But put the kid in a tough spot, and he generally came up with a big play. In the two-minute drill, he made McMahon look like the rookie. But many questions still remain.

Butts dominance at Kansas City may have overshadowed the rest of his year when he sometimes was hard to find in the offense. At 6-foot-1. 248 pounds, Butts is the ideal first-down back in Hennings one-back offense. But Butts has little experience carrying the ball after just 64 rushes in two years at Florida State. Gone but not forgotten Even with the late-season emergence of Butts, the Chargers sorely missed the talents of Gary Anderson.

The holdout running back sat out the entire season over contractual differences with the Chargers. Some believe his presence could have meant another two or three wins. Certainly the talented Anderson would have contributed to the Chargers weak offense. Is he worth the $1 million the club claimed Anderson demanded? No. But then how many players are worth the value of their contract? Ortmayer took a calculated gamble that he could break Anderson and get him in for $700,000.

When Anderson called Ortmayers bluff, both parties turned out to be losers. Rising star Almost overnight, Anthony Miller turned into one of the leagues brightest stars. Always blessed with world-class speed, Miller added intelligence, diligence and commitment to his game in 1989. The result was a Pro Bowl selection for the second-year wide receiver, who caught 75 passes for 1,252 yards and 10 touchdowns. Millers 91 -yard kickoff return for a touchdown against the LA Raiders was the Chargers most electrifying play of the season.

It not only woke up a sellout crowd at Jack Murphy Stadium, but it inspired his teammates in a 14-12 nationally televised win. Brother, can you spare a dime? Joe Madden showed why he had been out of coaching for five years before returning this season to oversee special teams. In short, there was absolutely nothing special about them. Week after week, the special teams played embarrassingly poor. Week after week, there seemed to be little, if any, change.

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