RIP Air Coryell

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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/foot...t.ap/index.html

[BuffaloWings]

Very sad. I loved those Charger teams from the early 80s...Fouts to Winslow, Jefferson, et al.

 

RIP, Don.

[Lofton80]

RIP Innovative guy, mentored a lot of modern era coaches.

[Nanker]

RIP Coach. The NFL has lost yet another great one.

[qwksilver]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/foot...t.ap/index.html

 

 

Loved to watch his teams. That was OFFENSE!

[BillsPhan]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/foot...t.ap/index.html

 

Great offensive mind. If he had a little better of a defense during the Fouts era in San Diego, he would have won multiple SB's. I'll never forget the Joe Ferguson "Bad Ankle" playoff game against his Chargers after the 1980 season. The Bills number one defense did an amazing job holding down Air Coryell and Fouts the entire game....until about 2 minutes left, when Fouts hit someone on a bomb (it wasn't Jefferson, was it somebody Smith....Ron Smith maybe??), to win the game at the end.

 

Coryell was a great NFL coach (had success with St. Louis before going to the Chargers), and he will be missed around the NFL.

[mike oxhurtz]

I'll never forget the battle between Miami & SD in the playoffs in the early 80's (that went into overtime). That was a hell of a game. RIP Air Coryell.

[stuckincincy]

RIP, Mr C.

[Paup 1995MVP]

I'll never forget the battle between Miami & SD in the playoffs in the early 80's (that went into overtime). That was a hell of a game. RIP Air Coryell.

One of the best games of the modern era by far. Coryell always looked so stressed and tense on the sidelines. But he was a tremendous coach, and increased the entertainment value of the NFL exponentially with his downfield passing genius.

[PS 56]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/foot...t.ap/index.html

 

He was a great coach. I was fortunate in getting to watch his teams at San Diego State University. I also saw the Chargers in action when he was head coach. The games were always exciting. He will be missed by many.

[Las Vegas Calling...]

I'll never forget the battle between Miami & SD in the playoffs in the early 80's (that went into overtime). That was a hell of a game. RIP Air Coryell.

That was one of my all-time favorite games. Both teams went back and forth, and the best part was that the Dolphins LOST!!!! It was a shame that the Chargers lost to the Bengals the next week.

[BuffaloWings]

One of the best games of the modern era by far. Coryell always looked so stressed and tense on the sidelines. But he was a tremendous coach, and increased the entertainment value of the NFL exponentially with his downfield passing genius.

I think that goes without saying. Back & forth offenses, trick plays, Winslow being pushed to extreme exhaustion, and overtime. Couldn't have been any better.

 

Phan hit it on the head, though. If he had better defenses, we would have seen San Diego in multiple Superbowls.

[billsintaiwan]

I'll never forget the battle between Miami & SD in the playoffs in the early 80's (that went into overtime). That was a hell of a game. RIP Air Coryell.

 

until our comeback win over the oilers, that was hands down the best game i'd ever seen. coryell made the game a blast. too bad it was minus whatever when they played the bengals. would have dug a niners-chargers superbowl.

[BuffaloBill]

Very sad. I loved those Charger teams from the early 80s...Fouts to Winslow, Jefferson, et al.

 

RIP, Don.

 

 

+100 great teams and entertaining offense

 

May he RIP.

[The Dean]

One of the all-time greats. That's for sure.

 

RIP coach.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I'll never forget the battle between Miami & SD in the playoffs in the early 80's (that went into overtime). That was a hell of a game. RIP Air Coryell.

One of the best games of the modern era by far. Coryell always looked so stressed and tense on the sidelines. But he was a tremendous coach, and increased the entertainment value of the NFL exponentially with his downfield passing genius.

Yeah, one of my buddies once joked that Coryell always looked like he'd just **** his pants. We all thought that was pretty funny.

 

That was a great game. I remember that hook and ladder play that Miami scored on…Duriel Harris and Tony Nathan? And I think Kellen Winslow blocked a field goal and was helped off the field with injuries at least twice, both times to return to the game. He then had cramps later in the game.

 

All time classic. In fact, NBC showed a replay of that game without announcers…it was an experiment to determine if a compelling game, played without announcers, could hold an audience. Don't know how it turned out.

[Pilsner]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/foot...t.ap/index.html

 

 

RIP Mr. Coryell. Air Coryell, a name most of us well never forget.

[stinky finger]

Very sad. I loved those Charger teams from the early 80s...Fouts to Winslow, Jefferson, et al.

 

RIP, Don.

Exactly what I thought of as I learned of his demise.

 

RIP....

[Bob in STL]

Great offensive mind. If he had a little better of a defense during the Fouts era in San Diego, he would have won multiple SB's. I'll never forget the Joe Ferguson "Bad Ankle" playoff game against his Chargers after the 1980 season. The Bills number one defense did an amazing job holding down Air Coryell and Fouts the entire game....until about 2 minutes left, when Fouts hit someone on a bomb (it wasn't Jefferson, was it somebody Smith....Ron Smith maybe??), to win the game at the end.

 

Coryell was a great NFL coach (had success with St. Louis before going to the Chargers), and he will be missed around the NFL.

 

 

That was a great game. Fergy playing on a bad ankle was heroic.

 

I do think it was Fouts to Ron Smith, who was pretty much an unknown, for the bomb. Our safety, Bill Simpson, fell down on the play.

 

Curiously, Simpson was a former Ram and a great player for Chuck Knox. He may have been waived and was contemplating retirement but came to Buffalo to help Knox. We had lost two excellent young safties that year to injuries. One was Jeff Nixon and the other was Rod Kush. I don't think Kush ever really recovered.

 

That team was one of the best Bills team ever. Knox brought in some excellent veterans like Rossevelt Leaks, Lou Piccone, Isiah Robertson, Sherman White, and Conrad Dobler. On top of that we had many young stars like Fergy, Joe Cribbs, Jerry Butler Fred Smerlas, Jim Haslet and Shane Nelson. We had excellent corners in Mario Clark and Charles Romes. We also had Will Grant, Reggie McKenzie, Roland Hooks, Lucius Sanford, Steve Freeman, Frank Lewis, and Ken Jones. This team was good enough to win the Super Bowl. No doubt in my mind they would have beat the Eagles or whoever the NFC had.

 

That year they won the home opener against Miami (I was there) and the goal posts came down. They won 5 straight including wins against Oakland and then on the road against San Diego. They also beat Cincinati, Pittsburgh, LA Rams, and San Francisco. The Bengals snd 49ers were one year away from their Super Bowl showdown. Our Bills where as good or better than any of them that year.

 

I really think this team was fantastic and loaded with characters that were fun to watch.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

That was a great game. Fergy playing on a bad ankle was heroic.

 

I do think it was Fouts to Ron Smith, who was pretty much an unknown, for the bomb. Our safety, Bill Simpson, fell down on the play.

 

Curiously, Simpson was a former Ram and a great player for Chuck Knox. He may have been waived and was contemplating retirement but came to Buffalo to help Knox. We had lost two excellent young safties that year to injuries. One was Jeff Nixon and the other was Rod Kush. I don't think Kush ever really recovered.

 

That team was one of the best Bills team ever. Knox brought in some excellent veterans like Rossevelt Leaks, Lou Piccone, Isiah Robertson, Sherman White, and Conrad Dobler. On top of that we had many young stars like Fergy, Joe Cribbs, Jerry Butler Fred Smerlas, Jim Haslet and Shane Nelson. We had excellent corners in Mario Clark and Charles Romes. We also had Will Grant, Reggie McKenzie, Roland Hooks, Lucius Sanford, Steve Freeman, Frank Lewis, and Ken Jones. This team was good enough to win the Super Bowl. No doubt in my mind they would have beat the Eagles or whoever the NFC had.

 

That year they won the home opener against Miami (I was there) and the goal posts came down. They won 5 straight including wins against Oakland and then on the road against San Diego. They also beat Cincinati, Pittsburgh, LA Rams, and San Francisco. The Bengals snd 49ers were one year away from their Super Bowl showdown. Our Bills where as good or better than any of them that year.

 

I really think this team was fantastic and loaded with characters that were fun to watch.

In addition to the names you mentioned, that Bills team also had Ben Williams, Joe Devlin, Phil Villapiano, Terry Miller, Mark Brammer, Ron Jessie, Curtis Brown and Tim Vogler. Every one of these players was an above average talent or producer.

 

That was an outstanding football team, and as you mentioned, fun to watch. Lots of characters. If Fergy hadn't gotten injured, who knows? Knox was an excellent coach.

[Bob in STL]

In addition to the names you mentioned, that Bills team also had Ben Williams, Joe Devlin, Phil Villapiano, Terry Miller, Mark Brammer, Ron Jessie, Curtis Brown and Tim Vogler. Every one of these players was an above average talent or producer.

 

That was an outstanding football team, and as you mentioned, fun to watch. Lots of characters. If Fergy hadn't gotten injured, who knows? Knox was an excellent coach.

 

 

Good catch. Villapiano was one of the old vets brought in to stir things up. Devlin and Williams had great careers for the Bills. We had some tough customers on this team. This team matched the cities blue collar image very well.

 

When things got bad and Knox left I was very upset.