Don Coryell - Offensive Innovator

A short video about Don Coryell from the "History Of The San Diego Chargers" DVD. RIP 1924-2010

[@carljustinenuestro8771]

He’s finally in the hall!!! Congrats coach from a Raider fan!!!!

[@robertpanetta7912]

Don belongs in the Hall . It’s not records but impact on the game . His passing game and the I formation are still being used today to some degree. From High school to the pro ranks . This man is famous in football and belongs in the Hall of the Famous ..

[@michael11185]

RIP Don Coryell I wish had a coach just like you. We will win it all for you. Go Chargers!

[@leevjr686]

Great insight to a good man and great coach. Thanks for the upload! He changed the pro game, and still today. Loved watching the Chargers offense with Fouts, Muncie, Joiner, Winsolw, Chandler, Brooks, etc. ... all great players that thrived under Coryell.

[@joesakic91]

Don Coryell is way overdue for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame because of his offensive innovation. Hopefully, 2016 is the time for his induction. Charles Haley waited long before he got in. Ditto for Art Monk. Coryell has to be part of the class of 2016.

[@DeeJayRoyalT2]

I hope and pray that this is the year Coryell finally gets his due and is elected to the Hall of Fame. If the NFL is truly interested in acknowledging the significance of those who's innovative contributions to the game helped make it what it is today, then he should be inducted. His impact goes far beyond being measured by Super Bowls, which seems to be the focus of the HoF committee. It's beyond a travesty and injustice that he has gone this long without being inducted. So many inductees can credit their success either directly or indirectly to what Coryell brought to the game. The NFL HOF Committee voters had better get it right this time. As far as I'm concerned it won't be a NFL Hall of Fame until Don Coryell is elected to it.

[@joesakic91]

***** Don Coryell will get in eventually. Without his offensive style, the NFL would've been a passing game that is today. If Dan Fouts and Kellen Winslow got in despite not making the Super Bowl with another legendary San Diego Charger Ladainian Tomlinson waiting in the wings, Coryell has to be in as well.

[@DeeJayRoyalT2]

joesakic91 You would think so, but if that were the case Coryell would have been inducted years ago. I really thought he would get in back when it was reported how ill he was...so that he would still be alive to see his contributions recognized with the ultimate honor. He's been overlooked so many times that it's difficult to believe he's a shoe-in to get into the HoF, despite his obvious worthiness. We'll find out this weekend if he finally made it.

[@Veaseify]

***** George Allen is in and he never won a championship either, although he did have a .712 winning percentage. That seems to be the criterion, win a championship or have an overwhelming win percentage and unfortunately Coryell had neither.. Frankly, its because the HOF voters are all sportswriters, if anybody who had actually played the game had a vote Don Coryell would have been in long ago

[@DeeJayRoyalT2]

Steve Veasey You would think current members of the HoF, Joe Gibbs, John Madden and Dan Fouts, who spoke so glowingly of him at his memorial service, would mount a campaign to get him inducted. They sang his praises, spoke of his influence on their careers and how hard it is believe they are in the HoF and Coryell is not. What the hell is wrong with the NFL that they continue to allow Coryell to be overlooked year after year? The sportswriters are getting younger and many of them don't even know who the hell Coryell was or what he contributed to the game. It's really sickening to see a number of questionable players get inducted on popularity alone while one of the games true innovators and brilliant minds is left out. But I do blame those who knew him and were influenced by him and owe their success to him for not speaking out on his behalf vehemently enough.

[@aaronsmith1676]

Shouldn't need the words of those men to know the greatness of Don Coryell. Something is mentally wrong with the HOF voters and its shameful they didn't get him in before he died.

[@mesomemore97]

As kid growing up I remember Coach Coryell as the coach of the Saint Louis Cardinals. He had that scowl on his face all the time & I thought he looked like the Cardinal on the helmets of his players.

[@maxp619]

Don Coryell is a san diego hero and knew the game so much about football in 1977 so happy to see this video san diego state living to 85 is grand and nice things about you said at your last day is pretty fantastic

[@oldschool1928]

Rest In Peace Don Coryell! His spirit will live forever in San Diego Chargers and SDSU Football.

[@ianwinfield929]

CORYELL4CANTON

[@jackc7853]

Hes my great grand pa

[@mannyquijada4653]

We need to get him in the Hall of Fame!!!!!

[@PaulG0502]

I loved your Grandfather as a coach. . He was a great person. You should be proud. I'm a big Cardinal fan for many years. He should have gotten better players than he did on defense.

[@thunderbolts2438]

Jack you should be proud. He single handily changed the way football is played today started with his college days then using those ideas with the Cardinals and Chargers. He will be in the hall of fame as an innovator of the modern day offensive football game. 🤙

[@stevehamilton4248]

Great offense innovator. Players coach. Responsible for changing the game. Winner. It's unbelievable he's not in the HOF.

[@stackleft2925]

Put the man in the HOF already.

[@iki3578]

He should be in the HOF for his contributions to the game. I remember reading on wikipedia about him not being in and an SI writer mentioned that HOF voters are reluctant to vote coaches in because there are so many players that are waiting for induction. Plus the 3-6 playoff record they take into account as well but that should not matter. He created an exciting offense and he DESERVES to be in Canton. Period. And this comes from a Broncos fan that loves football.

[@dennis32j]

I enjoyed watching this video; amazing that it was made 25 years ago. As someone else stated, it was interesting to see his real personality which seems very laid back behind that serious, intense gaze he showed on game day. My earliest memory of the NFL as a child was the mid 70s Cardinals who played some exciting games under Don Coryell and became known as the Cardiac Cards. My very first game where my dad taught me the rules of football was the 37-6 defeat of the Jets in 1975. Interestingly, Jim Hart posted a perfect passer rating that game (as I discovered much later). I remember a very exciting last minute comeback against the Rams in 1976. 1977 started out well including a Monday night win over the future Super Bowl winner Cowboys and 6 game win streak. However, after the 1977 Thanksgiving disaster against the Dolphins, the Cardinals lost the rest of their games, Coryell was fired, and the Cardinals as it turned out, were a largely dysfunctional team for the next 30 years. After Coryell left following the 77 season for San Diego, I adopted the Chargers as my second team. Not unexpectedly, the Chargers became easily the most exciting team in the league and the most explosive offense in the late 70s and early 80s. I remember a Monday night game in 1982 where they scored 50 points and had over 600 yards of offense against a pretty good Cincinnati team. It is unfortunate that they were unable to make the Super Bowl. Coryell had direct influence on other hall of fame coaches Gibbs and Madden, and other teams that used his offense, and turned around the career of Fouts. Jim Harts peak years were also under Coryell. As for the HOF, would be nice if he got in, though the playoff record is a hindrance. But if Fouts got in, then why not Coryell, and with his influence on the modern game to what it is today. I also visited the San Juan islands 2 summers ago which made the video more interesting as well, never heard of them before that.

[@johnevans5434]

What a great coach and true innovator!

[@ejrundt]

I enjoyed watching your grandpa as a head coach when I was growing up. You should be proud of him.

[@texasstadium]

Great coach and fun to watch. His offensive teams were so explosive that they scored at will....which hurt his defense. Sometimes you have to grind it out SLOWLY to give your defensive team a rest and keep the other team from scoring. Oh well, Fouts would just return to field and throw another quick TD pass. Let the shootout begin.

[@joesakic91]

Well, Don Coryell had to wait until 2023 to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he finally got in.

[@happyme6153]

Yes, those eyes. I remember watching him coach. Those eyes!!!! great Coach.

[@Rasdrizzy]

RIP Don.U were ahead of ur time.

[@nicholascollora6709]

Gotta love each other don lived life

[@patrickofkings]

I remember him on Monday nights on the weekly Chargers TV show explaining offensive and defensive schemes. He was an incredible teacher. I watch NFL games today because of his efforts in the '70s and '80s as the Chargers coach. Thank you, Don Coryell.

[@quincee33]

wow, that's awesome.....i was a kid in toronto starting to play football when i was 10 and loved the chargers offense! he maDE A big impact on the game! RIP in deed.

[@Jiltedin2007]

First on Offense, Last on Defense. How far did it get the San Diego Chargers? Yes it did make them entertaining. Bottom Line; it made "Air Coryell" An NFL Footnote. Rest In Peace: Don Coryell

[@turtle19dad]

Watching after he FINALLY made the HOF. #AirCoryell #SanDiegoSuperChargers

[@MrDeeboi33]

For Jay, listen and learn.............

[@jean-francoispilote5751]

Belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame....

[@keef67]

Great.Been looking for this.Why is he not in the hall of fame

[@FATHERKNOSEBEST]

I like people for what they are 😇

[@akimmalik1329]

A great Coach always very intense 👍👍

[@Laynefreeborn]

Thank you Don for making me love the game of Football. A true childhood hero! "I don't think a coach has to be a son of a bitch to be successful. I think you can treat men like men," -Don Coryell

[@Jamesmax22]

Agreed.

[@briane173]

Evidently Pete Carroll was listening.

[@jshipp10]

@Ninos158 I'm glad you like the video. I too enjoy how this video showed his soft side, I was so used to seeing him on the sidelines with his game face. I am sorry for you and your family's loss. Bless you and your family in this hard time.

[@conlanding]

I wishe he got a chance to coach in a Super Bowl with either the Cardinals or the Chargers. But his legacy in NFL history is cemented with his pass first offensive innovation which was unheard of in the mid to late 1970's when the NFL still was a run first league. The 1978 rule change in which contact in which a reciever can't me touched after 5 yards from the line of scrimmage made the difference.

[@TheDeJureTour]

Holy smokes, he lived another 20 years after this was made.

[@Maal7432]

He helped make football look beautiful.

[@coachfb18]

LOVED HIM!

[@sheltered_k]

It's official. #hofclassof2023

[@Mystic0157]

One of the games greatest offensive minds. If he cared half as much about defense as offense, he'd have 5 rings. He is deserving of the hall for innovation and courage alone.

[@briane173]

He had DC's for that. What he needed was a GM who was willing to put the work in to find and retain the best players on the defensive side of the ball. The fact that I can only remember Fred Dean and Louie Kelcher is evidence of the lack of pure talent on D during the Air Coryell era. But Don typically had an answer for that: "Hey, the point of football is to score more points than your opponent." He quite often did that, in games that typically ended like 55-51, 48-46, etc. One of the things that made the Chargers so exciting to watch. Hands down the most entertaining team in the NFL in the late 70s-early 80s, bar none.

[@kevinbrown4073]

Now hall of famer

[@rewing84]

#Coryellforthehof2023

[@jflash214]

love him

[@ckobo84]

He reminds me of the super up tight guy from Caddyshack. Glad to know he was pretty chill off the field. Almost felt sorry for him.

[@360shon]

wow, another great nfl films!

[@miguelangel-cq8hm]

la mejor ofencisa de san diego un gran entrenador. marcadores de 43 a 42 a favor de san diego la mejor ofenciva y la peor defensiva todo un circo aereio.

[@DerikSchneider]

An offensive innovator and a good Head Coach but opposing offenses loved playing his defenses. Because they knew they probably couldn't stop hem.

[@Jelperman]

@Mystic0157 He cared about defense. Unfortunately, the owners he worked for were more interested in pinching pennies. Gene Klein traded the Chargers' defensive line to the 49ers (three Pro Bowlers) and the defense took years to recover.

[@catcatch22]

Great video

[@BennyNegroFromQueens]

It's Sud Gilman's offense. That's why Sud is in and Don isnt.

[@raiders-ny6cx]

This is a great video. Interesting that he originally wanted to be a forest ranger.

[@taylordoebler1209]

We drank the wine and ate the crab 🦀

[@drbonesshow1]

Crazy Coryell: 0:35

[@quincee33]

@Ninos158 cool, he was an offensive genius, too bad the Chargers defenses stunk back then! i feel for Dan Fouts, never got a chance to play in at least 1 friggin' Bowl......loved that offense, Joiner, Winslow, wes Chandler and chuck muncie at RB....

[@JACKnJESUS]

The NFL remains a joke as long as Don Coryell is not nominated to the HOF.

[@jasonnolan9697]

hes righgt

[@oldschool1928]

Rest In Peace Don Coryell! His spirit will live forever in San Diego Chargers and SDSU Football.