Schottenheimer sits in a comfortable chair in the bar at one of the seven golf courses he belongs to across the country. He’s about to answer that very question when he’s interrupted.

“Marty!” a man yells, a developer whom the former coach talked to about the price of some six-figure land. “You need to take up coaching again to pay for all this!”

“No way,” Schottenheimer says as he stands up to visit.

“Come on, Marty,” another guy says. “Some team out there needs you. You could go to the 49ers.”

“No, thanks.”

“How about some part-time coaching down at Clemson?” another man asks.

There’s a crowd now.

“No way. It’s too much aggravation. Hell, (talking to you about it) is too much aggravation.”

Schottenheimer sits back down. He waits for the laughter to die down.

“You know,” he says, “my approach has always been I never say never and I never make a decision until I have to.”

That doesn’t exactly sound like I’m done with the NFL.

Then he tells you he fielded a call about a coaching job a year ago. And he demurred, not because he didn’t want to coach, but because his son was a candidate. As for being a general manager …

“You know, (Bill) Parcells has done it.” He pauses. “I’ve worked in professional football coaching for 30 years, six years as a player. But I’m just at peace with where I am right now.”

Pause.

“But I never say never.”