Don Coryell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Don Coryell | |
|---|---|
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| Date of birth | October 17, 1924 |
| Place of birth |  Seattle, Washington |
| Position(s) | Head Coach |
| College | Washington |
| Career Highlights | |
| Stats | |
| Coaching Stats | DatabaseFootball |
| Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
| 1957-1959 1961-1972 1973-1977 1978-1986 |
Whittier College San Diego State St. Louis Cardinals San Diego Chargers |
| College Football Hall of Fame | |
Don Coryell (born October 17, 1924) is a former American football coach, who coached in the NFL first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973-1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978-1986. He is well-known for his innovations to football's passing offense. Coryell's offense today is commonly known as "Air Coryell". He was inducted into the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame in 1986. Coryell is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He did not use a playbook.
Don Coryell played defensive back for the University of Washington from 1949-1951. Coryell coached 12 seasons with the San Diego State Aztecs, using the philosophy of recruiting only junior college players. There, he compiled a record of 104 wins, 19 losses and 2 ties including three undefeated seasons in 1966, 1968 and 1969. He was an assistant coach for the USC Trojans in 1960.
In 1978, when Don Coryell began coaching the San Diego Chargers, the Chargers had a win-loss record of 1-4 for that season. The team broke their losing streak with eight additional wins and three losses that season after Coryell became head coach.[1]
Coryell is the first coach ever to win more than 100 games at both the collegiate and professional level. He won two consecutive division titles (1974, 1975) with the Cardinals and three straight division titles (1979, 1980, 1981) with the Chargers, reaching the playoffs four times with the latter team. With Dan Fouts as quarterback, San Diego's "Air Coryell" was among the greatest passing offenses in NFL history.
At San Diego State, Coryell helped develop a number of quarterbacks for the NFL, including Don Horn, Bob Klatt, Jesse Frietas, Dennis Shaw and Brian Sipe, and also coached two players who later became actors: Fred Dryer and Carl Weathers. Coryell's development of future coaches included John Madden, Joe Gibbs, Jim Hanifan, Rod Dowhower, and Ernie Zampese.
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| Preceded by Paul Governali |
San Diego State University Head Football Coach 1961- 1972 |
Succeeded by Claude Gilbert |
| Preceded by Bob Hollway |
St. Louis Cardinals Head Coaches 1973–1977 |
Succeeded by Bud Wilkinson |
| Preceded by Tommy Prothro |
San Diego Chargers Head Coaches 1978–1986 |
Succeeded by Al Saunders |
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