Don Coryell’s influence on professional football continues to live on, but unfortunately the legendary former Chargers head coach will have to wait for the honor of being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Coryell was one of 15 finalists for Canton’s Class of 2010 but fell short of enough votes to take his rightful place in the Hall.
"I’m disappointed, but I’m also optimistic," former Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts said. "This was the first time he was a finalist so that’s a step forward. It’s encouraging that more people are recognizing the great contributions that Coach made to our game."
Fouts along with Chargers President Dean Spanos, Hall of Famers Kellen Winslow and Charlie Joiner and many others sent letters to Hall of Fame selectors in recent weeks touting the merits of the innovative Coryell. But in a class highlighted by the NFL’s all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith and all-time leading receiver Jerry Rice, the man who heavily changed the way the game is played was left out.
Coryell took over the Chargers after four games of the 1978 season and held the position until midway through 1986. In 1979, his first full season at the helm, he led the team to its first postseason appearance in 15 seasons. From 1978-83, the Chargers led the NFL in passing every year. They finished second in 1984 and were back on top in 1985.
In his previous post with the St. Louis Cardinals, he produced a playoff berth in his second season (1974), the franchise’s first since they’d relocated from Chicago in 1960.
It wasn’t just what he did but how he did it. Offensively, Coryell tried things that those before him never had. He spread the field with multiple-receiver sets, attacked defenses vertically, lined up his tight end in various places and made him a vertical threat and essentially created the “H-back” position, a hybrid fullback/tight end.
In turn, defenses had to drastically change to keep up with the way he used so many different formations and personnel groups. Coryell essentially forced the creation of nickel and dime defenses.
The offensive system the Chargers run today is based on the one Coryell created as a college assistant in the 1960’s. Head Coach Norv Turner learned the offense from former Coryell assistant Ernie Zampese. Several other NFL teams run a version of the “Air Coryell” offense and every team incorporates some aspects of it.
