text: In  offensive guard Ed White set an NFL record by playing in 241 NFL games. Lionel "Little Train" James, a 5'6", 171 pound running back, set an NFL record of 2,535 all-purpose yards and of 1,027 receiving yards by a running back.
  Changing head coaches (1986–1993)
  During the 1986 season, following the resignation of Coryell, Al Saunders was named head coach.
  In 1987, Joiner retired to become the Chargers' receivers' coach. The team finished the season 8–7, including a 3–0 record by the "replacement" team during the player's strike. The only other team to go undefeated during that time was the Super Bowl Champion Washington Redskins. In  Fouts retired after a 15-year career. He set seven NFL records and 42 club records, and became the NFL's second most prolific passer of all time with 43,040 yards. Fouts's jersey, the number 14, was retired at halftime at the "Dan Fouts Day" game in San Diego.
  In the 1989 season, Dan Henning, a former Chargers' quarterback, Washington Redskins assistant, and Atlanta Falcons head coach, became the Chargers' head coach. A first year running back, Marion Butts, set a club record with 39 carries and a team rookie record of 176 yards in the Chargers' 20 points to 13 win against Kansas City. Steve Ortmayer, the director of football operations for the past three years, left and was replaced by Bobby Beathard. The team would post double-digit losses between 1988 and 1991.