2003 San Diego Chargers season
The 2003 San Diego Chargers season began with the team trying to improve on their 8–8 record in 2002. They finished the campaign last in their division with only four wins and earned the #1 pick in the 2004 NFL draft. They played one “home” game during the season, against the Miami Dolphins, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona where the Arizona Cardinals played, due to the Cedar Fire.
Oddly, this season marked the first time that the Chargers played the Jacksonville Jaguars, despite that team existing since 1995. This is largely due to old NFL scheduling formulas in place prior to 2002, whereby teams would not necessarily play all members of other divisions within their conference, but played them according to position within a season’s table.[1] The Chargers played the Tennessee Titans only once during this period[2] (in 1998) but played the Bengals five times[3] during these years.
In preceding years, even longer gaps between two teams playing each other had occurred. For instance the Jets never opposed the Cardinals between 1979 and 1995 inclusive.[4]
Personnel
Staff
2003 San Diego Chargers staff |
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Front office
- Owner – Alex Spanos
- President/Chief Executive Officer – Dean Spanos
- Executive Vice President – Michael Spanos
- Executive Vice President/General Manager – A. J. Smith
- Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel – Buddy Nix
- Vice President of Football Operations – Ed McGuire
- Director of College Scouting – Jimmy Raye
- Director of Pro Scouting – Fran Foley
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
- Strength and Conditioning – Dave Redding
- Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Matt Schiotz
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Schedule
Week |
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
Kickoff Time |
Attendance |
1 |
September 7, 2003 |
at Kansas City Chiefs |
L 14–27 |
CBS 10:00am |
78,048 |
2 |
September 14, 2003 |
Denver Broncos |
L 37–13 |
CBS 1:05pm |
65,445 |
3 |
September 21, 2003 |
Baltimore Ravens |
L 24–10 |
CBS 1:05pm |
52,028 |
4 |
September 28, 2003 |
at Oakland Raiders |
L 34–31 |
CBS 1:15pm |
54,078 |
5 |
October 5, 2003 |
at Jacksonville Jaguars |
L 27–21 |
CBS 1:15pm |
48,954 |
6 |
Bye |
7 |
October 19, 2003 |
at Cleveland Browns |
W 26–20 |
CBS 10:00am |
73,238 |
8 |
October 27, 2003 |
Miami Dolphins |
L 26–10 |
ABC 6:00pm |
73,014 |
9 |
November 2, 2003 |
at Chicago Bears |
L 20–7 |
CBS 10:00am |
61,500 |
10 |
November 9, 2003 |
Minnesota Vikings |
W 42–28 |
FOX 1:15pm |
64,738 |
11 |
November 16, 2003 |
at Denver Broncos |
L 37–8 |
CBS 1:05pm |
75,217 |
12 |
November 23, 2003 |
Cincinnati Bengals |
L 34–27 |
CBS 1:05pm |
52,069 |
13 |
November 30, 2003 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
L 28–24 |
CBS 1:05pm |
57,671 |
14 |
December 7, 2003 |
at Detroit Lions |
W 14–7 |
CBS 10:00am |
61,544 |
15 |
December 14, 2003 |
Green Bay Packers |
L 38–21 |
FOX 1:15pm |
64,978 |
16 |
December 21, 2003 |
at Pittsburgh Steelers |
L 40–24 |
CBS 1:15pm |
52,527 |
17 |
December 28, 2003 |
Oakland Raiders |
W 21–14 |
CBS 1:05pm |
62,222 |
Standings
References
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| Stadiums | |
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| Culture | |
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| Rivalries | |
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| Lore | |
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| Division Championships (14) | |
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| Super Bowl appearances (1) | |
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| League Championships (1) | |
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| Current league affiliations | |
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| 1960s | |
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| 1970s | |
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| 1980s | |
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| 1990s | |
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| 2000s | |
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| 2010s | |
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