RIP: Air Coryell

Merlin Olsen needed some exciting games to call?

 

Indeed they were fun to watch.
Charlie Joiner, Wes Chandler, John Jefferson, Dan Fouts, Kellen Winslow, and even Chuck Muncie making defenses be honest ...
NBC had that contract to do AFC football games. 'Dem was the days.

To the best of my knowledge, those good San Diego teams at least lost on their own terms and didn't have to go through the anguish of getting screwed out of a chance at the Super Bowl game.
Another good AFC team of that era, the Houston Oilers, got gypped.

RIP Don Coryell

 

Also coached the mid 70s Cardinals teams that knocked Dallas out of the NFC East's perch for a couple of years. RIP.

 

The Chargers-Bengals title game was on NFL Network two nights ago. RIP to one of the most influential offensive minds in NFL history.

 

The Chargers were my second-favorite team back then, because of that offense. When playing in the backyard with friends, whoever was the quarterback was Fouts, and the rest of us were Winslow, Joiner or Chandler, or maybe James Brooks or (later) Lionel "Little Train" James or Gary Anderson coming out of the backfield.

And as good as those Chargers were in the early '80s, how great a coaching job must Coryell have done to get the Cardinals -- maybe the least successful NFL franchise ever -- into the playoffs?

 

The first pro athlete I ever met was Louie Kelcher. My dad took me to the hardware store to get his autograph, circa 1980 or 81. He and Fred Dean and Big Hands Johnson were the only real defensive players on those offense-laden teams. That's all Coryell needed was a tougher roster of defensive players to perhaps have a Super Bowl dynasty.

 

Amazing what he did with the Big Red considering Bidwell. Seemed like a pleasant man. RIP.

 

Dobler absolutely praised Coryell in one of his books. He said the Cards biggest mistake was letting Coryell walk. Also, said he could never imagine Coryell ever slowing down.

 

That window was wide open for them, too. Their best years came right as the Steelers were starting to slip, the Raiders were for the most part mediocre, and the 1980s NFC powers hadn't quite come together yet. How they never even made it to a Super Bowl baffles me.