In his seventh season, Holecek was released very late in training camp in salary cap move by a new Bills head coach and GM. Holecek was quickly signed by the San Diego Chargers. The Bills who ranked 3rd in total defense in the league in 2000, finished 3-13 without Holecek and others in 2001. John played in San Diego for one partial season; he finished the last five games of the season on injured reserve as a knee problems limited him to just 11 injury-riddled appearances.