RIP Don Coryell

RIP Coryell. Thank you for the knowledge.

This is a huge loss. In kinda putting it into perspective, due to his innovativeness, he kinda changed football al together and those practices are still being used. This is like seeing Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, or George S. Patton dying. Innovators of their time and changed warfare.

I always hated the fact that the WCO was attributed to Bill Walsh when technically his system was discovered in Cleveland Ohio which to me is an East Coast offense. Coryell being in Cali when discovered to me is technically a WCO. We ran it or a version with Gibbs and pretty much ever since. It wasn't until good ole Zorn have we started for the first time to use what everyone else wants to call the WCO.

The so called Bill Walsh offense is the Paul Brown offense and the real West Coast offense is the Don Coryell offense.

Most people don't remember Madden was also a pupil of Coryell. He was an assistant along with Gibbs at San Diego State.

Fouts, Madden, Gibbs will speak at Coryell memorial service

Posted by Mike Florio on July 7, 2010 9:08 PM ET

The "celebration of life" to be held next week for a man who arguably should be in the Hall of Fame will include three speakers who already have been enshrined in Canton.

The Chargers announced today that Dan Fouts, John Madden, and Joe Gibbs will address the crowd attending Don Coryell's memorial service at the Viejas Arena at San Diego State University, along with former NFL defensive end Fred Dryer and former NFL coach Jim Hanifan.

The event begins at 2:00 p.m. local time on Monday, July 12.

Contributions in Coach Coryell's honor can be made to the Campanile Foundation, Attn: Don Coryell Scholarship Fund, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182-4313.

NFL.com news: Emotional Madden chokes up at Coryell memorial service (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81917692/article/emotional-madden-chokes-up-at-coryell-memorial-service)

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- An emotional John Madden says there's something missing because the late Don Coryell isn't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame while some of his notable players and former assistants are.


Madden, choking up while speaking at a memorial service on Monday at San Diego State's basketball arena, says he, Joe Gibbs and Dan Fouts are in the Hall of Fame because of Coryell.


Coryell, the innovative coach whose Air Coryell offense produced some of the most dynamic passing attacks in NFL history, died July 1. He was 85. Coryell was a finalist for the Hall of Fame in February but was not selected for induction.


Gibbs and Fouts also spoke at the service for Coryell, who coached at San Diego State before moving on to the St. Louis Cardinals and then the San Diego Chargers (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/teams/chargers).