The 1978 San Diego Chargers season was the team's 19th season, and ninth in the National Football League.
The Chargers improved on their 7–7 record in 1977. This season included the "Holy Roller" game. It was Don Coryell's first season as the team's head coach, replacing Tommy Prothro after four games, and the team's first 16-game schedule.
Said the 2006 edition of Pro Football Prospectus, "The Chargers were one of the worst franchises in the NFL before they hired Don Coryell four games into the 1978 season. The Chargers were 1–3 at the time, but finished 8–4 under Coryell, winning seven of their last eight games for the franchise's first winning record since 1969. Blessed with Hall of Famer Dan Fouts, the creative Coryell always designed potent offenses, but the San Diego Defense didn't catch up until 1979...."
New head coach Coryell lost three out of his first four games before ending the season by winning seven out of the last eight.
Fouts had lost the starting job in Prothro's last game in charge, but grew in confidence as the season progress - 917 of his 2,999 passing yards came in the final three games alone. He had more attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns than in any of his five previous seasons in the NFL, and posted a league-leading 7.9 yards per attempts. Rookie John Jefferson had a strong year, with 56 catches for 1001 yards. He also scored a league-leading 13 receiving touchdowns, tying a rookie record set in 1952 by Billy Howton.
San Diego brought in Lydell Mitchell to strengthen the running game; in each of the three previous seasons, he had rushed for over 1,000 yards with Baltimore. While less effective in a Charger uniform, he did post 820 yards, while adding 500 more on a team-leading 57 catches. Hank Bauer was used as a short-yardage specialist - 6 of his 9 touchdowns were runs of 1 or 2 yards.
The defense slipped slightly, from 6th to 8th in terms of yardage, but remained a solid unit. Fred Dean had 13.5 sacks, and Mike Fuller ran one of his four interceptions back for a touchdown. Second-year kicker Rolf Benirschke made 18 kicks out of 22; his success rate of 81.8% was the second best in the league.
Offseason
NFL Draft
Early-season resignation of head coach Tommy Prothro and hiring of Don Coryell
The previous season Prothro had told team owner Gene Klein that he would coach for only one more year. After the team's third loss in a row, Prothro stayed at the stadium until almost midnight watching game films, and it was during this time that he decided to resign. In a public statement, he said, "I still believe this is a good football team and it is a playoff contender. However, after disappointing losses to Oakland and Denver and the disaster against Green Bay, I feel a fresh approach and a rude awakening may be what this team needs." Klein asked Prothro to stay on in an open-ended position to work in such areas as drafting and trading.
The Chargers hired former St. Louis Cardinal Coach Don Coryell who had been asked to step down from an active role by St. Louis at the end of the last season. Because he still had two years left on his contract with St. Louis, the Chargers agreed to give St. Louis a third-round draft pick to fully release Coryell from the Cardinals. Coryell had previously coached at San Diego State University from 1961 to 1972 before going to St. Louis. He said, "I'm pleased with the opportunity to coach again in San Diego because it's like a dream come true."
Roster
Preseason
Regular season
Schedule
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks
Rookie wide receiver John Jefferson had a successful debut as the Chargers won their opener. Two of Jefferson's three receptions went for touchdowns, and the Chargers led 17-13 after three quarters. A fumbled snap by Seattle quarterback Jim Zorn then gave San Diego a chance to increase their lead, but Fouts was picked off in the end zone when he looked for Jefferson once more. Seattle soon reached a 1st and 10 at the Charger 45, whereupon defensive tackle Gary "Big Hands" Johnson made his first career interception, picking off an ill-advised cross-field pass from Zorn and running it back 52 yards for the game's crucial touchdown. By the time Seattle scored again, only 6 seconds remained.