Air Coryell Final Flight

This article was posted by Bill McMullen 1 Year, 10 months, 3 weeks, 1 Day, 20 hours, 43 minutes ago.

SDSU/Cardinals/Chargers football coach Don Coryell died yesterday at 85. As a San Diegan during the simultaneously exciting and heart-breaking “Air Coryell” years, it’s sad news. Don Coryell and my personal favorite QB, Dan Fouts, led a truly great team of wide receivers, running backs and tight-ends like J.J. Jefferson, Kellen Winslow, and Chuck Muncie, some classic defense and special teams from Louie Kelcher and Hank Bauer (and the always-clutch kicker Rolf Benirschke) to a few AFC championships, a classic nail-biter in Miami, and a lot of record-breaking passing yards. The Chargers’ “Air Coryell” ridiculous passing offense still has ripples of influence in today’s game.

Sometimes in the early evening, after high school, while riding my lame Nishiki 10-speed over to my friend’s house to hang out and play Intellivision, I would see Coryell and his family walking around the neighborhood, as he lived only a few streets away. I waved one time and he smiled and waved back.

Thanks coach, those were really exciting times.

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