The 1990 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's 21st season in the National Football League (NFL) and its 31st overall. After a 1–4 start, the Chargers recovered to 5–5, only half a game out of the playoff places. Five losses in their final six games, however, saw them finish with a 6–10 record for the third consecutive season. Only one of San Diego's six victories came against a team with a winning record, and none were against eventual playoff teams. As had been the case in 1989, close finishes were a problem—the Chargers were 0–5 in games decided by seven points or fewer.
During the offseason, Bobby Beathard joined the Chargers as their general manager, beginning a ten-year tenure with the club. His first draft choice was Junior Seau, who would go on to have his number retired by the Chargers after playing in San Diego for the first thirteen seasons of his Hall of Fame career. In 1990, Seau was part of a strong defense that ranked 5th in the league, with linebacker Leslie O'Neal and cornerback Gill Byrd enjoying strong seasons. On offense, the Chargers continued a recent trend of trying multiple starting quarterbacks during the season, with Billy Joe Tolliver seeing the most action. The passing game was ranked well below the league average, but the Chargers had much more success while running the ball, with Marion Butts gaining 1,225 yards, a club record at the time.
Offseason
General manager appointment
On December 18, 1989, the Chargers announced that Director of Football Operations Steve Ortmayer's contract would not be renewed, leaving a vacancy in personnel management. While Ortmayer's draft choices included some notable successes, such as Pro Bowl wide receiver Anthony Miller and starting tackle David Richards, his trade activity had been less successful, with several acquisitions earning little competitive playing time; Ortmayer signed Jim McMahon before the 1989 season to be the new starting quarterback, but McMahon ended the season on the bench. Contract negotiations under Ortmayer were also an issue, with Chip Banks and running back Gary Anderson both holding out for entire seasons.
Team owner Alex Spanos had expressed an interest in signing Bobby Beathard to a front-office role in May 1989, shortly after Beathard quit as general manager of Washington, where he had won two of his four Super Bowl rings. Beathard had declined, preferring to take a year away from football, but was immediately rumoured to be Ortmayer's most likely successor. He was officially named to the role of general manager on January 3, with complete control over personnel. Beathard reflected that he'd missed being active in football during his year working as an analyst for NBC, saying, "I've got that feeling of excitement inside again. I'll be doing the thing I feel most comfortable doing."
Departures and arrivals
The previous season's free-agent quarterback signing, McMahon, was reluctant to sign a new contract based around performance incentives, which was the preference of head coach Dan Henning. After conferring with Beathard, Henning released McMahon on April 26. Billy Joe Tolliver, who had started five games the previous year, was left the frontrunner for the vacant quarterback job.
Another departure was center Don Macek, whose entire fourteen-year career was spent in San Diego, encompassing the entirety of Don Coryell's time as Charger head coach. Macek had missed the bulk of the previous two seasons through injury, and announced his retirement in April. Other departures from the offensive line included James Fitzpatrick and Brett Miller, who were both left unprotected from Plan B free newspaper. At the skill positions, Anderson and wide receiver Jamie Holland were traded away for draft picks.
The Chargers boosted both their running and receiving corps when they acquired Ronnie Harmon through Plan B free agency. The former Bill, who would go on to have 378 catches and 332 carries during his six seasons with the team, was rumoured to have chosen San Diego over the Cardinals because Martin Luther King Day was not an official state holiday in Phoenix. Midseason addition Steve Hendrickson, signed primarily as a linebacker, also spent some time in the offensive backfield as an H-back or fullback, positions he had played in high school.
Overall, more than half the final-game roster of 1989 was gone by the start of the 1990 season, with some veteran players among the final cuts. Dennis McKnight, a Charger since 1982, was trying to come back from a serious quad injury. He played in every preseason game, but was cut six days before the regular season began. Running back Tim Spencer was also cut, after five years with the team; he was resigned to the squad for four games late in the season, but had no carries and was released again at the end of the year.
There were fewer changes to the defense, which had ranked sixth in the league in 1989, though cornerback Elvis Patterson was one of three Chargers picked up by the Los Angeles Raiders in Plan B free agency. Undrafted rookie defensive back Donald Frank and former Tampa Bay linebacker Henry Rolling both made the squad, and would start games in the season ahead.
On special teams, the Chargers released both their kicker and their punter for the second consecutive season, Chris Bahr and Hank Ilesic having posted inconsistent campaigns. Punter John Kidd was picked up from the Bills via Plan B free agency, while Kitrick Taylor and Donnie Elder joined the team during the course of the season as returners of punts and kickoffs respectively. Four kickers competed for the role vacated by Bahr. Fuad Reveiz and John Carney emerged ahead of Barry Belli and Tom Whelihan as the frontrunners for the vacant position, with Reveiz initially winning the job in preseason. When Reveiz struggled through the first four weeks, the Chargers switched to Carney, who would stay with the team for eleven seasons, scoring over 1,000 points.
NFL draft
San Diego held the fifth overall pick in the draft. Numerous projections had them taking tackle Richmond Webb, with linebacker Junior Seau taken by New England, picking third. Beathard openly expressed an interest in Webb. The Patriots, however, traded their pick to Seattle on draft day. When neither the Seahawks nor the Buccaneers (choosing fourth) selected Seau, Beathard gratefully drafted him. Henning reflected, "When you get a player like Junior Seau your defense is going to become better regardless of what situation he's in." Seau, a native of San Diego County, described himself as "thrilled" with the outcome. He held out through much of training camp and preseason, but signed a five-year deal worth $910,000 annually, seventeen days before the Chargers' regular-season opener against Dallas. Seau went on to play for 13 seasons in San Diego, with the club retiring his number 55 jersey in 2012.
The Chargers had seventeen picks in total, although thirteen of these were in the sixth round or later. Their second-round pick had gone to the Bears as part of the McMahon trade, so their next selections came in the third round. Of these, Leo Goeas had the biggest impact, starting ten games at left tackle in 1990, and eighteen in total over three seasons in San Diego. In the later rounds, the Chargers picked four players who would make the squad: quarterback John Friesz won the starting job in 1991; Frank Cornish started every game at center during his rookie year; tight end Derrick Walker had 979 receiving yards across four seasons in San Diego; and wide receiver Nate Lewis had 1,789 and 12 touchdowns over the same period.
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Preseason
The starting quarterback job was up for grabs going into the Chargers’ quartet of preseason games, projected starter Tolliver having struggled in a controlled scrimmage with the Cardinals a week prior. Both Tolliver (9 of 15, 108 yards) and Mark Vlasic (11 of 13, 135 yards and a touchdown) saw action in the preseason opener against Dallas, a 28–16 win. The following week, Rod Bernstine rushed 8 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns, and rookie Lewis ran a kickoff back 87 yards for the decisive touchdown in a 30–27 win over the Rams. Tolliver was 10 of 20 for 124 yards, while Vlasic was 12 of 16 for 113 yards and an interception. Their third game saw the Chargers defeat San Francisco, the defending Super Bowl champions, 29–28. While Tolliver finished with solid numbers (10 of 19, 142 yards and a touchdown), Vlasic again boasted a better completion percentage, going 7 of 10 for 78 yards and a touchdown. Miller caught 8 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown.
San Diego missed out on a 4–0 record when they gave up 517 yards and lost 34–7 to the Raiders. Tolliver had his worst performance of the preseason, completing 5 of 16 for 95 yards. Vlasic again put up better numbers: 8 of 14 for 168 yards and a 69-yard touchdown to Miller, who had 7 catches for 158 yards. On September 3, Henning named Vlasic the starter for the regular season opener.
WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance 1 August 11 Dallas Cowboys W 28–16 1–0 Jack Murphy Stadium 42,221 2 August 18 at Los Angeles Rams W 30–27 2–0 Anaheim Stadium 45,684 3 August 25 San Francisco 49ers W 29–28 3–0 Jack Murphy Stadium 53,917 4 September 1 at Los Angeles Raiders L 7–34 3–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 25,017
Regular season
Overview
San Diego finished 6–10 for the third consecutive season, and missed the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season. They continued to struggle at the quarterback position, trying three different starters, as they did in 1988; Vlasic started the first game, Tolliver the next fourteen, and Friesz the last. Tolliver had the highest passer rating of the trio: 68.9 against a league-wide average of 77.3. He went 6–8 as a starter with 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Miller was again the outstanding wide receiver, though with numbers that fell short of his 1989 totals. He caught 63 passes for 933 yards and seven touchdown; newly signed running back Harmon finished second on the team with 511 receiving yards. The Chargers' team total of 2,683 passing yards ranked 24th of 28 teams in the league. More positively, the offensive line saw Cornish, Courtney Hall, Richards and Broderick Thompson start every game and gave up only 20 sacks, tied for second best in the league.
Aided by the strong offensive line, the running game excelled, with Marion Butts enjoying the best season of his career. Butts set a franchise record with 1,225 yards despite missing two games through injury. He finished third in the league for rushing yards, and first for yards per game with 87.5. With Bernstine adding 589 yards and Harmon a further 363, San Diego finished third in the league in both rushing yardage and yards per carry.
The Chargers defense had another strong campaign, ranking fifth in the league in yards allowed. Linebacker Gary Plummer led the team with 111 tackles, ahead of fellow linebackers Seau and Leslie O'Neal, with 85 and 81 respectively. O'Neal led the team in sacks with , ahead of a pair of defensive ends: Burt Grossman with 10, and Lee Williams, who slipped to after posting 14 the season before. Nose tackle Les Miller had only a single sack, but recovered three fumbles, including two in the opposing end zone. Gill Byrd had seven interceptions for the third consecutive season, leading the team each time; no other Charger had more than two.
New kicker Reveiz struggled, with only 2 successes from 7 field goal attempts, with none of his attempts coming from 50+ yards. He was replaced after four games by Carney, who made 19 field goals out of 21, his conversion percentage of 90.5% ranking second in the league. Punter Kidd averaged 40 yards per kick, ranking nineteenth. Mid-season acquisition Elder averaged 23.8 yards per kickoff return, second highest in the league.
Schedule