Thursday, October 14 Life of Riley is pretty good By Mark Cannizzaro Special to ESPN.com

When the San Diego Chargers hired Mike Riley as their head coach this past offseason, the perception around the league was similar to what it always is when a team makes a coaching change.

	Mike Riley didn't get to pick his own coaching staff, but he has succeeded in San Diego.

Most figured San Diego was trying to clean house and begin a rebuilding job.

Not so, however.

In fact, one of the most important things Riley has done since he was hired, has been to leave much of the team alone in terms of change.

Instead of change for change sake, the Chargers brought Riley in with the thought that they wanted a new man at the top, but they also wanted a head coach who would be complementary to the strong parts of the team that were already in place.

In essence, Riley took a job that many with NFL head-coaching aspirations might not have taken because the spot came with some assistants already in place. In other words, this was not going to be a Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson, Mike Holmgren all-encompassing-power position for Riley.

And you know what? That was just fine with him.

Through a quarter of the season under Riley, the Chargers (3-1) are tied for first place. In fact, they have a showdown game for sole possession of first in the AFC West with Holmgren's Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in San Diego.

So far, Riley is proof that teams can win without one man making every decision in the organization.

When he was interviewed by the Chargers, Riley was told, "We already have what we feel is a championship defense in place, so we want to keep our entire defensive staff in place."

Riley's response? "Fine."

So far, it has worked out marvelously. The Chargers' defense, which was terrific last season, has been at least as good this year, thanks to the organization calling for continuity.

San Diego enters Sunday's gave having not allowed a 100-yard rusher by an opposing back in 23 consecutive games -- the longest current streak in the NFL. Don't look for the Seahawks' Ricky Watters to break it.

The Chargers have allowed only 2.66 yards per carry on the ground this season, compared to the 2.7 they allowed in 1998, which was the lowest in the NFL since 1951. The longest run by an opposing back this season has been 12 yards. Opponents are averaging a mere 3.93 yards on first down, third-lowest in the NFL.

How fearful are opponents to run on the Chargers' defense? This year, teams are attacking the Chargers' defense at a 38-to-62 run-to-pass ratio. The league run-to-pass average is 45-to-55.

In last week's 20-10 victory over the Lions -- during which the Chargers at one point had eight starters out because of injuries -- they allowed the Lions 37 yards rushing, only 1.5 per carry.

San Diego leads the NFL with a plus-eight turnover total.

Now you can see why Chargers GM Bobby Beathard and his staff insisted the defensive staff stay intact.

"When we were talking to Mike going through the interview process, one of the early things we laid out to him was to keep the defensive staff intact, because we thought they did a great job," Billy Devaney, the Chargers' director of player personnel, said this week. "We didn't think that we needed a complete rebuilding, strip-the-team-down job starting from scratch.

"We weren't saying we were a great team or anything, but basically, quarterback was the one area that killed us last year. It always came back down to quarterback. That spot killed us. We thought if we could solidify quarterback and improve our offense we could contend."

Devaney said Riley spends "about 90 percent" of his time with the offense.

At least this year he has two proven veteran quarterbacks, Jim Harbaugh and Erik Kramer, to deal with. Ryan Leaf, the highly-touted first-round draft pick who bombed last season and has been nothing but a headache for the franchise since, has been injured and out of the picture.

"We were living and dying with the rookie quarterback and his mistakes, and when it got to the point where it was unbearable, we didn't have the established veteran to turn to, because Craig Whelihan was our only other option," Devaney said. "When Kramer became available, we were one day into training camp when he was let go (by the Bears). The day we were talking to Kramer, Leaf threw his shoulder out that morning. It was almost meant to be."

With Harbaugh nursing a rib injury, Kramer, who started last week, is scheduled to start again Sunday.

Kramer said he's relishing the chance to play in a big game again.

"That's the whole reason, really, you play the game," Kramer said. "That to me is exciting, because you never know when you're going to get in that position again. I've been in it before, but not a lot."

Chargers safety Rodney Harrison called Sunday's game against Seattle "like a playoff game."

"It's a huge game," he said. "This is a time for us to come in here and make a statement. It's a great opportunity to make our mark in the AFC as well as around the league."

Perhaps then, more people will take note of the smart moves this franchise made in the offseason. They might even learn who Mike Riley is.

One Detroit newspaper inadvertently spelled his name "Reilly" after the Chargers beat the Loins.

"Guys like being in first place," Riley said. "They say it immediately in the locker room after a game. Now we know it doesn't mean a hill of beans until the end of the year, really, and it's where you are then, but there's nothing wrong with being there right now."

Devaney called everything around the Chargers this year "upbeat and positive."

"I don't know if that's because of the success we've had early or because Mike is so upbeat," Devaney said. "I don't know which came first. I'd almost like to see us face a little adversity to see how we handle it."

The Chargers should find out a lot about themselves in the coming weeks. After the Seattle game, they play Green Bay, Kansas City and Denver consecutively.

Things are going so well in San Diego, according to some in the organization, even Leaf has taken a turn for the better ... knock on wood. According to Chargers players and management, Leaf apparently has been attacking his shoulder rehab with such commitment, he's actually winning back some people in the organization.

"There's hope," one Chargers insider said. "(The organization) is thinking this might work out. He's trying to win the team back."

There are several factors involved, according to San Diego sources. Leaf was recently engaged, which has supposedly settled him down a bit off the field. Some credit Riley for his handling of the player.

Others mentioned Leaf's friendship with Giants' quarterback Kerry Collins, who was ostracized in Carolina and New Orleans before earning a second chance in New York.

"With all that crap Collins went through, hitting bottom and working his way out of it, maybe (Leaf) has looked at that," one source theorized.

Whatever it is, and although it has been only a period of about six weeks, there are those in San Diego saying that Leaf "is a different guy" right now.

"He's lifted his ass off, finally lost his baby fat; he's finally acting like a professional quarterback," the source said. "And the players are noticing."

How long that lasts, of course, is the factor. It'll play out next year, because if the Chargers want Leaf back after next season, they must pay him a $5 million bonus to stay or he becomes a free agent.

Oddly enough, the Chargers believe they know enough about his quarterbacking skills to keep him. The real scrutiny will come on how he handles himself off the field. That, along with whether Leaf is able finally earn the respect of his teammates, will determine if that payout is made.

Dan's still the man
After listening to Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson blame Dan Marino for Miami's loss to the Bills and then watching Marino singlehandedly steal a victory from the Colts last week, Patriots defensive players are wondering what Johnson was thinking.

"I saw some highlights of the Indy game and Dan's back to being his old self," said cornerback Steve Israel, whose Pats host Marino's Dolphins on Sunday. "There were comments made during the week (by Johnson), but Dan is probably one of the best, if not the best quarterback going down in history, and he's still showing it.

"You hear time and time again that he doesn't have the arm strength he used to, and that's bull. We have our work cut out for us."

Dolphins try to surface on top
Speaking of the Dolphins, Johnson said this week that it's time Miami rose to the top of the AFC East.

"Every year it seems like we are always chasing somebody," said Johnson, whose Dolphins (3-1) trail the Pats (4-1) and Bills (4-1) by a half game. "The first couple of years, it was New England. Last year, it was the Jets. Now, it's New England again. I'd like to see that change."

	Terry Glenn Wide Receiver New England Patriots Profile
	1999 SEASON STATISTICS REC YDS YDS/R TD LNG FUM 37 636 17.2 2 54 1

Terrific Terry
Patriots wide receiver Terry Glenn, who leads the NFL with 37 receptions and 636 yards, is on a record-shattering pace this season. Glenn is on target to break Jerry Rice's NFL record for most receiving yards in a season (1,848), and he might make a run at Herman Moore's NFL record for most receptions in a season (123). Glenn is on pace for 118 catches for 2,035 yards.

Mind games
Jets coach Bill Parcells pulled a classic psychological end-around this week. The day after the Jets lost to the Jaguars on Monday night, Parcells refused to say whether Rick Mirer would remain the quarterback, saying instead that he "had to think things over" and that he had "a lot of problems."

When asked who would start, Parcells said, "I'll let you know tomorrow (Wednesday)."

So, on Wednesday, Parcells said he was sticking with Mirer, adding that he never said he was considering a change at quarterback, that those were the words of the media.

The crux of that deal was this: Parcells has no recourse at quarterback. Tom Tupa is his punter, and Ray Lucas is inexperienced.

So, instead of making the change, Parcells played a little mind game with Mirer -- all, the while never actually speaking to him about the topic. Perhaps his message to Mirer was not to get too comfortable thinking he's the only option at quarterback (even though he is).

Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post writes a weekly AFC notebook for ESPN.com that appears each Thursday.