Jim Harbaugh’s disastrous 2026 Chargers evoke Jim Harbaugh’s hapless 2000 Chargers

Quarterbacks

2000: Jim Harbaugh, Ryan Leaf, Moses Moreno

2026: Justin Herbert

You can see from the stats above that Harbaugh was the most serviceable signal-caller on the 2000 Chargers roster, but the Bolts were also trying to assess what they had in Leaf, the No. 2 overall pick in 1998, and Moreno, a local standout from Castle Park High in Chula Vista. Note that Herbert leads the league in interceptions this year with a passer rating inferior to Harbaugh's in 2000.

Key running backs

2000: Robert Chancey, Jermaine Fazande, Terrell Fletcher

2026: Omarion Hampton

Hampton is on his way to eclipsing the numbers Fletcher and Fazande compiled in an entire season despite a subpar yards-per-carry average. Chancey is one of the rare NFL players who didn't play a down of college football.

Key receivers

2000: Curtis Conway, Jeff Graham, Freddie Jones

2026: Tre Harris, Ladd McConkey

The 2000 Chargers boasted only two viable fantasy football options. That's two more reliable options than the 2026 Chargers.

Throwing it back to Y2K

In retrospect, the 2000 Chargers were a spectacle that had to be seen to be believed. It was a season punctuated when defensive back Fakhir Brown crashed his car in the Mission Valley parking lot of The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper -- after speeding down a city street, vaulting over a curb and a large berm and clearing a chain-link fence. Brown missed several games due to a hurt shoulder but avoided serious injury.

(As someone who worked at the Union-Tribune at the time and subsequently saw security footage of the crash, I can tell you it was impressive. It looked like a comet streaking across a screen, until it struck several vehicles, including the parked truck of an unsuspecting agate clerk. But I digress...)

Attendance predictably sagged, falling to 47,228 at one point in a Qualcomm Stadium that held 70,000. No matter to the Chargers, who benefited from a controversial agreement with the city of San Diego that left taxpayers on the hook for unsold tickets from 1997 through 2003. Speaking from experience, fans could buy tickets from scalpers for as little as $10.

The Bolts finally ended their malaise with a 17-16 win over the visiting Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 26, 2000. The winning points were scored when John Carney booted a 52-yard field goal with 2:14 left. "WE HAVE A WINNER" blared a Union-Tribune headline the next day, a pun that evoked the still-undecided presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Ultimately, San Diego traded the No. 1 draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons, who went on to select quarterback Michael Vick. The Chargers would then pick LaDainian Tomlinson and Drew Brees to spark a rebuild under subsequent coach Marty Schottenheimer.