Don Coryell - San Diego Chargers

San Diego Chargers

Coryell was hired as the San Diego Chargers' head coach on September 25, 1978, the same day as the infamous PSA Flight 182 crash in San Diego. When Don Coryell began coaching the team, 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. The Chargers 9–7 record was their first winning season since 1969.

He won three straight division titles (1979, 1980, 1981) with the Chargers, reaching the playoffs four consecutive times. Previously, the Chargers had not been to the playoffs since 1965. With Dan Fouts as quarterback, San Diego's "Air Coryell" was among the greatest passing offenses in NFL history. The Chargers led the league in passing yards an NFL record 6 consecutive years from 1978 to 1983 and again in 1985. They also led the league in total yards in offense 1980–1983 and 1985. The Pro Football Hall of Fame called Coryell's offenses "one of the most explosive and exciting offenses that ever set foot on an NFL field." Fouts, wide receiver Charlie Joiner, and tight end Kellen Winslow would all be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame from those Charger teams.

Fouts was only the 2nd player to pass for 4,000 yards in a season in 1979 before establishing a new record for total passing yards in a season in 1980 and again in 1981. In a nine-game strike-shortened 1982 season, Fouts averaged 320 yards passing per game, an NFL record that stood until Drew Brees averaged 342 in 2011. With Winslow, Coryell redefined the tight end position into a deep, pass-catching threat too fast for a linebacker and too big for a defensive back. Coryell was astute to realize that "If we're asking Kellen to block a defensive end and not catch passes, I'm not a very good coach."

In San Diego, Coryell groomed another set of all-purpose backs in James Brooks and later Lionel James, a mere 5'6" and 171 pound running back, who broke Metcalf's record in 1985 while also setting a record of 1,027 receiving yards by a running back. A rookie in 1978, John Jefferson went on to become the first receiver in league history to gain 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons while also grabbing 36 touchdowns. Traded away from the Chargers by ownership because of a contract dispute, Jefferson never reached 1,000 yards again in his career. Wes Chandler was acquired to replace Jefferson. In the 1982 strike year, Chandler, set the record of 129 yards receiving per game that is still an NFL record.

Detractors of Coryell point to the Chargers' defensive shortcomings given that his defenses were in the bottom ten league-wide from 1981 to 1986. However in 1979, the Chargers allowed the fewest points (246) in the AFC. In 1980 their defense led the NFL with 60 sacks spearheaded by a frontline of All-Pros in Fred Dean, Gary "Big Hands" Johnson and Louie Kelcher. The group was locally nicknamed "the Bruise Brothers", coined from a popular act at the time, The Blues Brothers. However, in 1981, Dean, like Jefferson, was traded away due to a contract dispute with ownership. Dean contends he was making the same amount of money as his brother-in-law who was a truck driver. The Chargers' defense would never be the same afterwards as it surrendered the most passing yards in the NFL in both 1981 and 1982. Meanwhile, Dean would go on in the same year to win UPI NFC Defensive Player of the Year (while playing in only 11 games) and help lead the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl that year and again in 1984. Dean was inducted to the NFL Hall of Fame in 2008.

"I can't say how much it affected us, because we did make it to the AFC championship game," said Johnson of the loss of Dean. "But I could say if we had more pass rush from the corner, it might've been different."

Tom Bass, who was a defensive coordinator for Coryell with both SDSU and the Chargers, said Coryell focused on offense during practice. He left the coaching of defensive players and the defensive game plan to Bass."In planning and designing defense, he simply had no interest," said Bass.