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Don Coryell, ex-Chargers, Aztecs coach dies at 85
Coach revolutionized game of football with passing attack
By Bill Center,SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 6:22 p.m.

Don Coryell has been credited with molding the modern passing game.

Don Coryell, who twice reversed the fortunes of San Diego football franchises and revolutionized the passing game in the National Football League, has died at the age of 85.

RELATED
Nick Canepa: Coryell was football’s Chuck Yeager

From the U-T archives:
SDSU presenting Coryell honorary doctorate (Feb. 12, 2010)
Coryell’s big imprint ingrained in football (Feb. 5, 2010)
He broke the mold: Passing-minded Coryell should be in Hall (May 14, 2009)

THE CORYELL RECORD
Year Team W-L-T
1957 Whittier College 6-2-1*
1958 Whittier College 8-1-0*
1959 Whittier College 8-2-0*
1961 San Diego State 7-2-1
1962 San Diego State 8-2-0*
1963 San Diego State 7-2-0*
1964 San Diego State 8-2-0
1965 San Diego State 8-2-0
1966 San Diego State 11-0-0*
1967 San Diego State 10-1-0*
1968 San Diego State 9-0-1
1969 San Diego State 11-0-0*
1970 San Diego State 9-2-0*
1971 San Diego State 6-5-0
1972 San Diego State 10-1-0*
1973 St. Louis Cardinals 4-9-1
1974 St. Louis Cardinals 10-4-0*
1975 St. Louis Cardinals 11-3-0*
1976 St. Louis Cardinals 10-4-0
1977 St. Louis Cardinals 7-7-0
1978 San Diego Chargers 8-4-0
1979 San Diego Chargers 12-4-0*
1980 San Diego Chargers 11-5-0*
1981 San Diego Chargers 10-6-0*
1982 San Diego Chargers 6-3-0
1983 San Diego Chargers 6-10-0
1984 San Diego Chargers 7-9-0
1985 San Diego Chargers 8-8-0
1986 San Diego Chargers 1-7-0
Whittier totals: 3 seasons 22-5-1 (.804)
SDSU totals: 12 seasons 104-19-2 (.840)
NFL career: 14 seasons 111-83-1 (.572)
NFL postseason: 6 seasons 3-6 (.333)
Coaching career: 29 seasons 240-113-4 (.678)
*-Team won conference or division title (SDSU was independent in 1968)

Don Coryell, who twice reversed the fortunes of San Diego football franchises and revolutionized the passing game in the National Football League, has died at the age of 85.

Coryell died at 3:15 p.m. today at Grossmont Hospital,San Diego surrounded by family. He had been been battling a lengthy illness.

Coryell was the first coach to have more than 100 wins at both the collegiate and professional levels and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

“We are terribly saddened by the passing of Coach Coryell,” said Chargers President Dean Spanos in a statement. “He revolutionized the game of football, not only in San Diego, but throughout the entire NFL. Don Coryell was a legend not only with the Chargers but throughout San Diego.

Though unfortunately he did not live long enough to see it, hopefully one day his bust will find its proper place in Pro Football’s Hall of Fame. He will be missed.”

The Chargers became known as “Air Coryell” during his nine seasons as the head coach.

Earlier, Coryell took San Diego State from being a losing small college program to being recognized nationally, going 104-19-2 over 12 seasons from 1961-72.

Coryell also coached the St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL from 1973-77.

Under Coryell, the Chargers won three straight AFC West championships from 1979-81 and lost in the AFC championship games of 1980 (to Oakland) and 1981 (to Cincinnati).

“We had three, possibly four good chances at going to the Super Bowl,” Coryell said in 1995. “It just didn’t work out.

“If we had gotten there, we would have won at least one of them.”

Although Coryell never coached a team to the Super Bowl, he had a 111-83-1 regular season record as a NFL head coach, including a 69-56 record with the Chargers.

“I had the privilege of playing for him in college and pros,” said cornerback Willie Buchanon, who played for Coryell at SDSU and with the Chargers. “He never changed. Same intensity. Surrounded himself with smart, intelligent coaches who had the same philosophy he had. He brought out the best in everybody around him.”

Beyond wins and losses, Coryell was respected throughout football as an innovator and the creator of the “vertical offense” that stretched defenses.

“Don is the father of the modern passing game,” said Joe Gibbs, who assisted Coryell before becoming a Hall of Fame coach with the Washington Redskins.

“He was extremely creative and fostered things that are still in today’s game because he was so creative. You look around the NFL now and many teams are still running a version of the Coryell offense.”

What many people don’t realize is that Coryell was also instrumental in the development of the I-formation running game that John McKay popularized at Southern California in the 1960s.

Coryell ran a version of the I while a high school head coach in Hawaii and as the head coach at Whittier College in 1957-1959. He was an assistant coach to McKay at USC in 1960 before succeeding Paul Governali as the head coach at San Diego State in 1961.

At San Diego State, Coryell inherited a program that was close to folding, quickly turned it into a small college power and developed it into a Division I program before leaving for the NFL.

Coryell’s Aztecs had three undefeated seasons — 1966, 1968 and 1969.

“He hired me (as defensive backs coach) in 1967,” said Ernie Zampese. “He’s the finest head football coach I’ve ever been with, really something, a tremendous guy to work with. He hired you to do a job and he expected you to do it.”

It was while at San Diego State that Coryell changed his emphasis from the running game to the passing game.

“There were a number of reasons why we developed the passing game with the Aztecs,” Coryell said several years after leaving San Diego State.

“We could only recruit a limited number of runners and linemen against schools like USC and UCLA. And there were a lot of kids in Southern California passing and catching the ball.

“There seemed to be a deeper supply of quarterbacks and receivers. And the passing game was also open to some new ideas.”

From the fifth game of the 1965 season to the penultimate game of the 1970 season, Coryell’s Aztecs compiled a 55-1-1 record that included a 25-game winning streak from 1965-67 that ranks as the 19th longest in NCAA history.

The run was capped with a 29-game undefeated streak.

Under Coryell, San Diego State became known as Quarterback U. — sending a series of quarterbacks to the NFL, including Don Horn, Rod Dowhower, Dennis Shaw, Brian Sipe and Jesse Freitas.

Coryell also helped develop such wide receivers as Isaac Curtis, Gary Garrison, Haven Moses, Tommy Reynolds, Neal Petties and Tommy Nettles.

Coryell’s staffs at San Diego State included Gibbs, John Madden, Zampese, Tom Bass, Dowhower and Jim Hanifan.

Coryell’s list of great Aztec players included defensive end Fred Dryer, defensive back Willie Buchanon and running backs Jim Allison, Don Shy and Kern Carson

However, it was after he departed San Diego State that Coryell rose to national prominence — first as the head coach of the St. Louis Cardinals then with the Chargers.

Coryell departed San Diego State shortly after the 1972 season to become the head coach of the Cardinals, who hadn’t reached the NFL playoffs in a quarter of a century.

With Jim Hart as his quarterback, Mel Gray as his favorite target and Terry Metcalf as a multiple threat at running back, Coryell led the Cardinals to back-to-back division titles in 1974-75.

Coryell returned to San Diego five games into the 1978 season, taking over a 1-4 team from Tommy Prothro. Under Coryell, the Chargers finished the season with an 8-3 run then won the first of their three straight AFC West titles the following season.

With Dan Fouts at quarterback, the Chargers led the NFL in passing yards for an NFL record six straight seasons starting in 1978. They also led the league in passing in 1985 and in total offense for four straight seasons (1980-83) and five times in a six-season span.

Fouts, wide receiver Charlie Joiner and tight end Kellen Winslow all were voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame off their accomplishments as Chargers during the era of Air Coryell.

In Coryell’s scheme, wide receiver John Jefferson caught passes worth more than 1,000 yards in each of his first pro seasons — but never again attained the total after being traded away to Green Bay in a 1981 contract dispute.

A year later, the Chargers acquired Wes Chandler to fill Jefferson’s slot and he set a then NFL record by averaging 129 yards receiving per game.

Coryell’s Chargers also featured three of the top multi-threat running backs in the franchise’s history — Chuck Muncie, James Brooks and Lionel James.

Although Coryell’s Charger teams were criticized for their lack of defense, the 1979 Chargers allowed a NFL-low 246 points while the 1980 edition led the league with 60 sacks led by the line of Fred Dean, Gary “Big Hands” Johnson and Louie Kelcher.

Born in Seattle on Oct. 17, 1924, Coryell was a defensive back at the University of Washington from 1949-51 before turning to coaching. He is survived by son Mike of Los Gatos, daughter Mindy Lewis of San Diego, and two granddaughters (Loni and Kelly) and a grandson (Cutter). His wife of 51 years, Aliisa, died in December 2008.

“When he passed away, he was in his town, that’s for sure,” Zampese said. “His daughter Mindy was great, with him every day up to the end.”

Funeral arrangements are pending.