When I telephoned Jimmy Johnson this morning he was out fishing, which is his daily routine down in the Florida Keys.

Yes, Jimmy and Chargers owner Dean Spanos are good friends and if Jimmy wanted to coach, Dean would probably hire him in a New York second. But like Rhonda, Jimmy’s wife told me, Johnson is through with coaching. Jimmy has told me that a thousand times even though we both have laughed at all the money he’s turned down through the years.

Before the late John Butler hired Marty Schottenheimer, Spanos and Butler flew to the Keys to woo Jimmy and try to convince him to coach the Chargers. That was five years ago and, believe me, nothing has changed with Jimmy. He said no then and he knows that the daily NFL grind is too much to handle now, even if offered $10 million a year.

What Spanos and general manager A.J. Smith did yesterday, firing Schottenheimer, ranks as one of more bizarre front-office cases in recent NFL history.

Smith and Schottenheimer haven’t spoken to each other in more than a year. I wrote Schottenheimer was history if he lost in the playoffs, but the San Diego brain trust changed its mind and kept him for one final lame-duck season. What is so weird is that this relationship didn’t suddenly change simply because Marty wanted to hire his brother, Kurt, as defensive coordinator. And, who knows, Marty may have wanted to force their hands, knowing that being fired (and collecting his $3.7 million) might have been the result of trying to hire Kurt while also allowing so many good assistant coaches to take jobs elsewhere.

I mean, the 2007 season wasn’t going to be the greatest in Schottenheimer’s career, considering his relationship with Smith and the odds against actually winning 14 games once again.

This is why Spanos made a huge mistake in retaining Marty. He should have terminated Marty so that Smith could have elevated Wade Phillips into the job before Wade left last week to become head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. I mean, what a lost opportunity that was.

Remember, Smith was the one who hired Phillips and made him the defensive coordinator in San Diego, not Marty. Smith wanted to do the same thing as Schottenheimer attempted to put together a new staff, having lost his top four assistants.

There is no doubt that this could be one of the best jobs in the NFL -- if you can co-exist with Smith -- because the Chargers have three young stars in LaDainian Tomlinson, Philip Rivers and Shawne Merriman. Plus, who doesn’t want to work in San Diego. Schottenheimer just loves his ocean-view home there. And no matter your opinion of Smith, he and Buddy Nix rank among the top five personnel evaluators in the league right now. Heck, they could be No. 1.

Rex Ryan, Baltimore’s talented defensive coordinator, should top Smith’s list. Despite his background with a 4-3 defense, Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera should also be on the interview list, considering his background in Buddy Ryan’s complicated and masterful 4-6 defense. The Chargers have a lot of talented defensive players and they should hire a defensive guy.

Good luck to Andy

Eagles coach Andy Reid, one of the real good guys in this game, is taking a leave of absence to deal with his two sons, Garrett and Britt, who both were stopped by police two weeks ago. Both sons apparently have drug problems, plus Britt was accused of pointing a gun at another driver after a traffic accident.

In situations like these, people want to point a finger at Reid for being an absentee father. But that isn’t the case; Andy has been active with his children. If he is guilty of anything, it is probably being too generous with his children, giving them freedom and not depriving them of anything. A lot of people in the league are hoping something very good comes out of Reid’s time at home.

Giant mess

We realize the Giants had to cut linebacker LaVar Arrington and left tackle Luke Petitgout loose on Monday for salary cap reasons. But doesn’t this team need Petitgout? When he wasn’t committing a dozen false start penalties in Seattle, Petitgout was a consistent blocker. Coming off an Achilles injury, Arrington might struggle. At least his future ability is cloudy at best.

But the bigger issue is how many free-agents want to come to New York with Tom Coughlin in a win-or-else situation? The Giants remain really close to reaching the Super Bowl if you believe in Eli Manning, but they need to replace these veteran players with proven talent, too.

Reinfeldt & personnel

Tennessee’s new general manager, Mike Reinfeldt, has been more of a salary-cap man and contract negotiator in his 20-plus years in the NFL. It remains unknown if Reinfeldt is going to have personnel power over head coach Jeff Fisher like Floyd Reese did in the past. But there is no question that Reinfeldt wants the personnel authority with the Titans based on his overture to Vincent Marino of the NFL’s Management Council to serve as his salary-cap man.

In Green Bay and Seattle, Reinfeldt never had the final say on any personnel matters. He is embarking on a new career, so to speak, and it will be interesting to see what unfolds in Tennessee. If he and Fisher can work together, it may all work out. But if Fisher still doesn’t have control over his 53-man roster why would he stay and sign a long-term contract?

Remember, outside of Bill Cowher, Fisher ranks as the most appealing of head coaches to a majority of NFL owners. Fisher would be a hot commodity on the open market next year.

Cowboys & Jerry

There is no question that the media support for Norv Turner in Dallas didn’t help his cause with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. I think Jones was nervous about hiring Turner, who was close with Fort Worth columnist Randy Galloway and long-time Channel 8 sportscaster Dale Hansen. Both of these men have been covering the Cowboys since the days of Tom Landry, so they’ve seen it all.

New head coach Wade Phillips, like Turner, is being asked to retain several Cowboy assistant coaches from the Bill Parcells’ regime. This is never a good thing for a new head coach because those coaches, when trouble or controversy starts, tend to run to the boss, in this case Jerry Jones.

Their allegiances usually are to the owner who kept them employed, not the new head coach who was basically forced to keep them. This may not sound like a big deal, but it is within any coaching staff. Every assistant’s loyalties should be to the head coach, not the owner.