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2001 San Diego Chargers season
Head Coach Mike Riley
Home Field Qualcomm Stadium
Results
Record 5–11
Place 5th AFC West
Playoff Finish did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season Next season
2000 2002

The 2001 San Diego Chargers season began with the team trying to improve on their 1–15 record in 2000. It was Mike Riley's final season as the teams head coach. At the end of the season running back LaDainian Tomlinson won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Offseason[]

Becoming the "Bills West"[]

In January 2001, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson fired his general manager, John Butler, and his entire staff. The Chargers immediately signed Butler, and within weeks, Butler had lured several recognizable names from the 2000 Bills team: defensive end Marcellus Wiley, linebackers Sam Rogers and John Holecek, kicker Steve Christie and most notably, quarterback Doug Flutie, who had been cut by the Bills in a bitter quarterback controversy involving Rob Johnson. With so many former Bills connections, the team was often referred to as the Bills West.[1][2]

As such, the October 28 matchup between the Bills and Chargers in San Diego was heavily promoted as a dual grudge match, not just between Johnson and Flutie, but also between Wilson and Butler, with Wilson having been quoted as wanting to win the Chargers game more than the Super Bowl.[1] Despite the fact that the Bills were having a very bad season, and the Chargers' fortunes (at the time) had turned significantly, the game was very competitive, coming down to the final minutes play. Trailing 24–20, Flutie scrambled 13 yards to put the Chargers up 27–24; when kicker Jake Arians attempted a 44-yard field goal to tie the game, it was blocked.[3] The Chargers, then 5–2, would not win another game the entire season, going 0–9 in the remaining nine games.

NFL Draft[]

Michael Vick was selected in the 2001 NFL Draft as the first overall pick and first African American quarterback taken number 1 in the NFL Draft. The San Diego Chargers had the number one selection spot in the draft that year but traded the rights to the first overall choice to the Atlanta Falcons a day before the draft, for which they received the Falcons' first round pick (5th overall) and third round pick in 2001 (used to draft CB Tay Cody), a second round pick in 2002 (used to draft WR Reche Caldwell) and WR/KR Tim Dwight.[4] With the Chargers' downgraded spot (the 5th overall), they selected Texas Christian University running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who went on to become league MVP in 2006 .[5] Although Vick has never become league MVP, he finished second in voting in 2004.[6] In this way, Tomlinson and Vick are linked as having been "traded" for each other, although the transaction was actually the result of traded draft picks and contract negotiations.

Round Player Position School/Club Team
1 (from Atlanta) LaDainian Tomlinson [7] Running Back Texas Christian
2 Drew Brees Quarterback Purdue
3 (from Atlanta) Tay Cody Cornerback Florida State
4 (from Pittsburgh through New England) Carlos Polk Outside Linebacker Nebraska
5 Elliot Silvers Tackle Washington

Personnel[]

Staff[]

2001 San Diego Chargers staff
Front office
  • Chairman of the Board – Alex Spanos
  • President/Chief Executive Officer – Dean Spanos
  • Executive Vice President – Michael Spanos
  • Executive Vice President/General Manager – John Butler
  • Assistant General Manager/Director of Pro Personnel – A. J. Smith
  • Vice President of Football Operations – Ed McGuire
  • Director of Player Personnel – Buddy Nix
  • Director of College Scouting – Jimmy Raye

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator – Joe Pascale
  • Defensive Line – Wayne Nunnely
  • Linebackers – Jim Vechiarella
  • Secondary – Rod Perry
  • Defensive Corners – Mark Banker
  • Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – Andrew McClave

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Bruce Read

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – John Hastings
  • Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Mike Schleelein

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 9, 2001 Washington Redskins W 30–3
60,629
2 September 23, 2001 at Dallas Cowboys W 32–21
63,430
3 September 30, 2001 Cincinnati Bengals W 28–14
56,048
4 October 7, 2001 at Cleveland Browns L 20–16
73,018
5 October 14, 2001 at New England Patriots L 29–26
60,292
6 October 21, 2001 Denver Broncos W 27–10
67,521
7 October 28, 2001 Buffalo Bills W 27–24
63,698
8 November 4, 2001 Kansas City Chiefs L 25–20
58,789
9 November 11, 2001 at Denver Broncos L 26–16
74,951
10 November 18, 2001 at Oakland Raiders L 34–24
61,960
11 November 25, 2001 Arizona Cardinals L 20–17
49,398
12 December 2, 2001 at Seattle Seahawks L 13–10
55,466
13 December 9, 2001 at Philadelphia Eagles L 24–14
65,438
14 December 15, 2001 Oakland Raiders L 13–6
67,349
15 December 23, 2001 at Kansas City Chiefs L 20–17
76,131
16 December 30, 2001 Seattle Seahawks L 25–22
51,412

Standings[]

AFC West
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Oakland Raiders 10 6 0 .625 399 327
Seattle Seahawks 9 7 0 .562 301 324
Denver Broncos 8 8 0 .500 340 339
Kansas City Chiefs 6 10 0 .375 320 344
San Diego Chargers 5 11 0 .312 332 321

See also[]

References[]

  1. REDIRECT Template:Los Angeles Chargers

 


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