If Don Coryell Is A Hall Of Famer, So Is Chucky
July 6th, 2010
"Jimminy Christmas, you're going to put Don Coryell in the Pro Football Hall of Fame before Barry Switzer?"
Of course Joe is human, despite what some believe. He is not the great Satan as some suggest.
So when Joe heard of former NFL coach Don Coryell passing away, Joe was somewhat saddened. Joe was in grade school, and later high school, when Coryell coached the old St. Louis Cardinals to two division titles before his pass-happy, outscore-the-opponent style of play flamed out in five years without winning a playoff game.
He later went on to San Diego where he passed even more and had only slightly better success with the same concept: who cares how much the other team scores, we’ll outscore them.
Coryell retired without getting his heralded teams to a Super Bowl. They were fun to watch but his style of football was once again reinforced by the football gods that a team has to occasionally play defense to win in the postseason.
So when Joe read in recent days from reasoned, seasoned football writers, two in particular Joe has a world of respect and admiration for, Howard Balzer and Peter King, advocate that Coryell should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Joe nearly fell off his barstool.
Wha… what???
Joe nearly threw up when he read this. By what standards should a man who had marginal success as an NFL coach, who never reached a Super Bowl, be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame???
Joe got into a back-and-forth on Twitter with Balzer — who Joe was unaware followed him on Twitter — about the Coryell subject. Joe is rather humbled that Balzer follows Joe, in all seriousness.
Balzer told Joe that Coryell belongs because he was an innovator whose teachings are still being practiced today. Joe countered that if that is the criteria, then Red Hickey and Bum Phillips should also be strong candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In Joe’s eyes, innovation does not equal elite.
Hickey coached the 49ers in the 1950s. He is largely credited with developing the shotgun formation, which is still used by virtually every team today. Joe has yet to hear any sober person make the case for Hickey to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Depending on what book you read, Bum Phillips, as a high school coach in Texas in the 1950s, taught then-Texas A&M coach Bear Bryant zone blocking for offensive linemen (some books credit Vince Lombardi developing zone blocking at Army during the same time period). To this day, virtually every NFL team uses zone blocking up front. Joe has yet to hear anyone campaign for Phillips as a Hall of Fame coach.
Joe looked up Coryell’s postseason record (.333). Here’s some coaches who, like Coryell, never reached the Super Bowl who have better postseason records: Phillips (.571), Lou Saban (.500), Walt Michaels (.500), Jerry “Mr.” Burns (.500), Jerry Glanville (.429), Steve Mariucci (.429), Dick Nolan (.400), John Robinson (.400), Dave Wannstedt (!) (.400) and Chuck Knox (.389).
None of these coaches made it to a Super Bowl but had better postseason records than Coryell. Joe has yet to hear anyone of these coaches talked about as Hall of Fame coaches. None.
Let’s see, Paul Brown, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Don Shula, Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Lombardi and Coryell. Which name doesn’t fit?
Joe remembers watching George Allen coach rings around Coryell, often using the same play in the fourth quarter over and over and over and Cardinals coaches could never adjust. It seemed all too often in close games Coryell was overly quick to abandon a solid running game with bruising Jim Otis running behind — at that time — one of the NFL’s best offensive lines, only to go 3-and-out with the pass.
To Joe, that’s not smart football. That’s not what Hall of Fame coaches do.
If a man wasn’t even the second-best coach in his division, exactly how can he be mentioned as a serious Hall of Fame candidate?
Please, someone, anyone, go back to the 1970s or early 1980s and find any reference where people thought Coryell was Hall of Fame material. Generally when a player or coach is in the prime of their careers, one thinks, “Man, that guy is a Hall of Famer.” This never happened when Coryell was on the sidelines. It’s revisionist history at its worst. Because Coryell was the second coach (Noll was the first) to play Nintendo football, he’s a Hall of Fame candidate, really???
Oh, and take a guess who John McKay beat in the Bucs’ very first home win in 1977? That’s right, Don Coryell and the Cardinals! The Bucs defense held the great offensive mastermind Coryell to a lone touchdown that day.
Joe is convinced most of this nonsense about putting Coryell into the Hall of Fame is hatched because of NFL Films’ great work on the overtime classic when Coryell’s Chargers beat Miami in the Orange Bowl in the first round of the 1981 playoffs, largely thanks to Kellen Winslow’s block of a very makeable Uwe von Schamann field goal attempt.
If Von Schamann makes that field goal, Joe is guessing there wouldn’t be any talk of Coryell in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
And what did Coryell’s vaunted team do the next week in the AFC Championship? They got waxed in the frigid Riverfront Stadium by none other than Forrest Gregg.
No, Don Coryell should not be in the Hall of Fame. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is for the elite, not the pretty good.
And if Coryell is ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, then there is absolutely zero reason to keep Chucky out of the Hall of Fame. NONE!
The gall to have this man, Coryell, who never coached in a Super Bowl, would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame before men who won two rings like Tom Flores and George Siefert, is appalling to Joe!
Unlike Coryell, Chucky got a team to the Super Bowl, and crushed his opponent, largely due to outstanding coaching.
Chucky’s coaching.
Someone explain to Joe a championship game Coryell’s team won due to his superior coaching.
That example does not exist.
If Coryell is elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Joe is going to go on a crusade to get Chucky elected that will make Joe’s advances upon Rachel Watson pale in comparison!
July 6th, 2010 at 8:24 am
So..um, I take it your against it ?
July 6th, 2010 at 8:35 am
I just want to go on the record in saying Im 100% opposite Joe on this one. Coryell belongs in the Hall and youd be hard pressed to find an NFL coach past or present who will say any differently. Hell he tutored coaches who are already in and who are lobbying for his induction. Thats all Ill say about it.
July 6th, 2010 at 9:33 am
When are you going to post the two big announcements, or did I read soemthing wrong?
July 6th, 2010 at 9:54 am
I guess if Coryell gets elected into the HOF, so should Tony Sparano for bringing the wildcat formation to the NFL.
July 6th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Coryell belongs in the HOF for what he did to change professional football
July 6th, 2010 at 10:36 am
One small correction, the head coach for the Bungles in the freezer bowl game was Forrest Gregg. Wyche was an assistanct for Bill Walsh at that time.
July 6th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Man this is a tough one, I can see the point that you have to have a championship as a coach to get in.
But those Charger Teams were truly awesome and unstoppable. I think Jimbuc makes a great point, if you change the game it can make up for the lack of a Championship.
I love Chucky, but he aint HOF, at least not yet. Now Monte Kiffin I could see.
Is Bud Grant in?
July 6th, 2010 at 11:18 am
Air Coryell deserves to be in the HOF!!
I remember way back in 75 i got to watch him coach the then St. Louis Cardinals against the Cowboys a 31- 17 win in route to a 11-3 season. He would love to have the talent there is available today in his offense.. WOW! that would be fun to watch… Loved his San Diego teams, I was at the Miami-San Diego game the dual between Fouts and Marino wow what a game!!
July 6th, 2010 at 11:19 am
eric:
Yeah, Bud Grant’s in. He got to four Super Bowls, losing all four.
July 6th, 2010 at 11:20 am
JimBuc:
How did Coryell change professional football?
July 6th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Very good catch Slappy! Sam Wyche was Walsh’s quarterback coach at that time. My bad. Thanks.
July 6th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Best piece of writing I’ve seen on here in awhile Joe! Very informative.
July 6th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Chucky still has an entire career to win some more games. As he grows and learns how to handle players, he will only get better.
Then Tampa will go down in history for firing a Hall of Fame coach. Awesome!
July 6th, 2010 at 11:27 am
sensiblefan:
Thank you for the kind words.
July 6th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Joe: I guess you are joking with me? How did “Air” Coryell change football? Really? I know you know so you must have something else you want say? Here, I’ll let a few football legends tell you, care of SI:
“As much as it’s a cliché, the history of the NFL cannot be written without an extensive chapter on Coryell. He is credited with creating the I-formation (while an assistant under John McKay at USC), founding the three-digit passing system, creating the H-back position, and using situational substitutions. “He was way ahead of his time,” former Colts Tony Dungy said. “The things that they did offensively and the way that they moved the ball, the way that he figured out talent and utilized the best of everybody’s abilities — he was phenomenal. Most of these principles that people are running now trace back to what he did.”
Coryell was the brains behind “Air Coryell,” the high-flying, high-scoring offense that helped put QB Dan Fouts, tight end Kellen Winslow and wide receiver Charlie Joiner in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The offense was as entertaining as it was explosive, with Fouts becoming the first player to throw for more than 4,000 yards in three successive seasons. He led the league in passing three times, including 1981 when he set a then-record with 4,802 yards. Sundays were almost anticlimactic for the bearded quarterback because the real adrenaline rush came early in the week, when he received the game plan and saw how Coryell planned to attack the defense
“He was just so different from every other football coach,” Fouts said. “He was not the stereotype, and the teams that he put together and coached — whether at San Diego State or with the St. Louis Cardinals or the Chargers — were not the stereotype. We were unique, and he was unique. For that uniqueness, we all owe a great debt of gratitude to him.”
***
Coryell’s fingerprints are all over the Lombardi Trophy. Retired Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, a Coryell assistant at San Diego State, won three Super Bowls in four appearances while running Coryell’s offense. Dallas won three Super Bowls in four years running his system; the St. Louis Rams won one Super Bowl and lost another doing the same.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jim_trotter/07/02/coryell.original/index.html#ixzz0suwKKAph
July 6th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Anyone have a picture of that?
Coryell did nothing different than his mentor Sid Gilman — except that Gilman actually won a AFL championship. Coryell didn’t do anything different than Tom Landry or Chuck Noll, except win titles.
So Coryell has assistants that were Super Bowl-winning coaches and that makes him worthy of the Hall of Fame, really? OK, let’s put in Jim Lee Howell. His assistants were Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi. I believe that trumps Coryell.
If Coryell was as much of a genius as too many are trying too hard to make him out to be, why couldn’t he stumble into a Super Bowl?
Why, this Coryell was such an offensive mastermind, a 2-12 team held his offense to seven points!
If Coryell is elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for something he did as a college assistant, then Bum Phillips has every bit the same criteria for being elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for what he did as a high school coach.
If Coryell gets in, so should Red Hickey as well as dozens of other coaches.
Come on now.
July 6th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Joe — you are grumpy today. What gives? Coryell did not just have assistants that were SB winning coaches, they were SB winning coaches using his offense, right? I don’t even think he was a genius, as much as maybe a mad scientist. The key issue was that he changed the game by showing that you could open things up through the air.
July 6th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Joe, actually I like your approach. Let’s make entry into the HOF based exclusively on stats (i.e. wins, championships etc.) That way we would not have to rely on media types . . . uh . . . for voting? Nevermind. . . 🙂
July 6th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Sorry JimBuc, not grumpy, being realistic.
Is the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the pretty good or for the nice guys or for the elite of coaches/players?
If you let a guy in for what his assistants did, the floodgates are wide open. So should Jim Fassel get in because he had an assistant that won a Super Bowl? If not, why not? See where this is going?
There are many, many more deserving coaches than Coryell. If you put in a guy who couldn’t even make it to a Super Bowl, and if memory serves only made it to two conference title games, how can you keep out guys that not only won a Super Bowl, but won multiple Super Bowls? You can’t.
If Coryell is inducted, how do you keep out coaches with better postseason records who never made a Super Bowl? You can’t.
I actually saw Coryell’s teams. He was a one-trick pony: Pass the ball, damn the run and ignore the defense. Why should that be lauded? If anything it’s irresponsible and as the football gods showed, is not winning football.
Was Coryell a good coach? Of course. A good passing coach. Was he an elite coach? Absolutely not.
July 6th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Coryell is one of the coaches that you have to look at beyond the record he posted. His offense is being used by so many teams in various forms. The guy was an innovator. You can list him as a “contributor” instead of a coach. The more I read about him, the more I am impressed. I would guess that all of the living Hall of Fame coaches would agree that Coryell belongs in the Hall.
Coryell has a what if by his name. His Ds in SD in ’79 and ’80 were very good. They led the AFC in pts allowed in ’79 and was first in sacks in ’80. Of course ownership had to screw it up. A contact squabble made them trade Fred Dean to SF. Fred Dean was one of the best pass rushers in the league and an eventual Hall of Famer. That would be like trading Warren Sapp before 2002. The D wouldn’t be the same. SD’s D fell apart after that. His record does not put him in the Hall, but the other stuff certainly does.
July 6th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
The AFL changed modern football – a much more pass happy league. When it merged with the NFL many of the AFL teams slipped into the NFL mode. Coryall reintroduced the passing attack at a time when the rest of the NFL was getting kind of flat in its offensive prowess.
Passing the ball has come and gone in spurts in the NFL.
I do disagree with Joe Coryall should be in the hall of fame for being the father of the “modern” passing game. As far as chucky…hmmm time will tell but with his current body of work? No not really.
Many coaches have won ONE Super Bowl in one apperance, does not make them “lock” for the HOF.
Barry Switzer -? Brian Billick, Tom Coughlin, Bill Cower, Mike Ditka, Tony Dungy, Mike Tomlin, et al. All HOF material?
What about the 1-1 guys like, Holmgren and Vermeil? – HOF material?
What did chucky do for Pro Football? I know what he did for the Bucs and I am eternally grateful but HOF or Bucs ring of honor?
July 6th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Remember guys, Sid Gilman, Coryell’s mentor, is the father of the modern passing game.
And he is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
July 6th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
How do you get into the HOF without winning a Super Bowl??
By making the Defense change the way it plays Defense. Dan Fouts said “Whoever heard of the nickel or dime pass defense before “Air Coryell” forced opponents to come up with strategies to combat Coryell’s aerial assault?”
If your a NFL coach Offense or Defense and you change the way the other side of the ball has to play against you then that coach has changed the game. And that is a enormous endorsement to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
July 6th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
After I heard some pin heads on ESPN say Allsto wouldn’t make the hall of fame I lost all interest in their opinions of who should and should not.
July 6th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
RustyRhino:
Or, as George Atkinson, former Raiders defensive back and a (multiple) Super Bowl winner said, “How did that team not win a Super Bowl? They’d score 51 and their opponent scored 52. They didn’t care about defense, only passing and you can’t win like that.”
Shoot, Tony Dungy damned near backed into a Super Bowl without scoring a touchdown and going through the playoffs with a rookie quarterback. Coryell had much more firepower and Dungy’s Bucs got closer to sniffing a Lombardi Trophy than Coryell did.
Joe saw Coryell’s teams with his own eyes. Only Hall of Fame Coryell belongs in is the fantasy football Hall of Fame. A glorified Mouse Davis.
July 7th, 2010 at 12:35 am
Joe,
“If Don Coryell Is A Hall Of Famer, So Is Chucky” your quote..
Did Chucky change the way Defenses play Defense? Has he “yet” to cause other teams to create totally New & Different Defensive Alignments to stop his Explosive offense?…
No? still waiting you say?
But Coryell did. The Nickel defense & Dime defense both came about from Coryell’s contributions to the Offensive play style and play calling of his teams. That to me deserves recognition.
I too saw with my own eyes his offense in person.
On several occasions.
Do you not think that Dan Fouts and Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow deserve to be in the hall of fame then? As they never quite won the Big Game….? I can understand why Jim Hart and Terry Metcalf don’t look good to make it to the HOF.
July 7th, 2010 at 8:27 am
RustyRhino:
Coryell did not change the way the game is played, unless you are counting he may have been an inspiration for the Arena Football League. If anything Coryell’s pass-happy offense reinforced what the football gods have deemed decades ago: Teams need to play some defense in order to win.