Chiefs to face Chargers, former coach

? Rosters turn over, and coaches move on. Loyalty’s not what the NFL does best.

Nevertheless, a strong man’s influence sometimes lingers long after he’s gone. Take Marty Schottenheimer and the Kansas City Chiefs, for example.

Schottenheimer coached the Chiefs for 10 seasons and today will coach the San Diego Chargers against them.

While only a few players remain from the Schottenheimer era, memories of their old coach are vivid. And who knows? Maybe some old lessons learned at his side will help them beat their old coach in the 2003 opener.

“I love the guy,” said Jerome Woods, who was Schottenheimer’s first-round draft pick in 1996 and became his starting safety.

“Every coach you play for, you keep some of the advice, some of the things they gave you. One thing I know Marty always talked about, you’ve got to win at home. And you’ve got to keep losing teams losing.”

While San Diego quarterback Drew Brees is trying to rifle passes past Woods, another former Schottenheimer disciple will be blocking for Priest Holmes and even carrying the ball a few times himself.

“We’ve been preaching ball security and taking care of the ball, and that’s something Marty Schottenheimer constantly drilled into us,” said fullback Tony Richardson. “He always said the team that can best hold onto the ball and not make mental mistakes will have the best opportunity to win.”

Another subplot to this early AFC West showdown will be the pass defense. Last year, neither team had much. In fact, they ranked last and next-to-last in the league.

The Chiefs are hoping improvement will come from an added year of seasoning for cornerback Eric Warfield, the return of Woods from injury and the experience free- agent signee Dexter McCleon brings.

The Chargers may be taking a longer look into their future.

Schottenheimer announced this week that rookie Sammy Davis, this year’s first-round draft choice, would start at cornerback. The other starting cornerback will be second-year man Quentin Jammer, the top pick from 2002.

Davis spent the preseason battling veteran Tay Cody for the starting job.

“I like his demeanor,” Schottenheimer said. “He is confident without being arrogant.”

Chris Horn, the Chiefs’ rookie wide receiver, can understand how Davis might feel.

“The way we’re all looking at it is that they’re good players. The fact they’re rookies doesn’t really matter at this point,” Horn said. “You know they’re good athletes or they wouldn’t be in the NFL.”

The Chiefs’ reworked secondary might find its biggest problem is wide receiver David Boston, a newcomer who figures prominently in the Chargers’ plans.

“We know that David Boston is a big timer, big, big timer, about a 245-pound wide receiver,” Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil said. “That’s a man out there.”

Also back is running back LaDainian Tomlinson. He’ll make it a special matchup going against Holmes, who has led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage the past two years and will be giving his surgically repaired hip its first big test.

“When you speak about the best running back,” Vermeil said, “you’ve got to include his name.”