SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — For legendary San Diego Chargers head coach Don Coryell, Saturday's enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was a long, long time coming.
Hall of Fame Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts, who threw for nearly 5,000 passing yards in a single season twice in the '80s well before the 4,000-yard mark was the norm, called it a 30-year campaign that finally landed Coryell in Canton, Ohio.
Although Coreyll never won a Super Bowl, his main contributor to the NFL was innovating the passing game through his "Air Coryell" offense.
His teams embraced the deep passing game in an era well-entrenched and enamored by the rushing attack. The explosive and groundbreaking offense was one of the blueprints for the pass-happy NFL fans are accustomed to today.
Coryell coached the San Diego Charges from 1978 to 1986, and during that time, the Chargers led the league in passing for six straight years. Defenses were forced to adjust their schemes to account for downfield passing.
Unfortunately, Coryell died in 2010. His daughter, Mindy, presented him during Saturday's ceremony.
"What I'm sure of is he'd be humbled, grateful and just a bit surprised that his legacy has lived on for all these years," she says. "Lots of people tell me, especially his old ball players, how my dad either invented or improved so many offensive concepts, but more importantly, that he was a players' coach, and that the relationships he fostered were the keys to his success... Air Coryell has landed in Canton, Ohio."
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