Don Coryell was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999. He had a tremendous amount of success, especially during his time at the San Diego State University Aztecs.
Early Years
Don Coryell grew up in Seattle, Washington, and joined the United States Army in 1943 during World War II. He trained as a commissioned Paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division and left the service as a 1st Lieutenant at 21 years old. He attended the University of Washington where he studied physical education, eventually attaining his Master’s Degree. He played defensive back for the Huskies and was a storied boxer winning the Light-Heavyweight title for the university.
Don Coryell Begins His Coaching Career
(University of Washington Magazine)
Coryell became an assistant coach with the Huskies in 1950. His first head coaching job was at Farmington High School in Hawaii in 1952 before moving to the University of British Columbia the following year. In 1955, Coryell returned back to his home state of Washington to coach at Wenatchee Junior College. While at Wenatchee JC, Coryell made popular the Power I formation, a combination of the I and T-wing formations.
Coryell won his first Championship with an undefeated 9-0 season at Fort Ord, a military football team based out of Monterey, California. He took his success to Whittier College in 1957 and successfully pulled off a 3-peat SCIAC Championship. His four seasons of winning championships eventually landed him on the coaching staff of John McKay with the USC Trojans in 1960. Being one of its first pioneers, Coryell helped McKay install the I-Formation for the Trojans in McKay’s first season as the Trojan's head coach.
Don Coryell becomes a San Diego Sports Hall of Famer
(San Diego State University)
After his one-year stint with the Trojans, Coryell was hired as the head coach for the San Diego State Aztecs in 1961. The Aztecs had not received a bid to a bowl game in 10 years and had just come off a one-win season. The Aztec football program was a complete mess up to the point when Coryell was hired. He quickly installed his I-Formation scheme and recruited experienced players from junior college who had better game film. This allowed him to more analyze players' strengths and weaknesses more efficiently while allowing the college to stay within its budgetary restraints.
One player he recruited ended up being Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs who became Coryell’s first quarterback at SDSU. In his first season, Coryell improved the Aztecs from a one-win team to a team that finished 7–2-1. The next season, they won the California Collegiate Athletic Association title. Over 12 seasons as the Aztecs head coach, Coryell boasted a record of 104-19-2, winning 4 CCAA, 3 PCAA titles, and winning every bowl game they played.
The SDSU program not only turned around but began churning out players and coaches who had a tremendous amount of success in the NFL. Joe Gibbs became a Hall of Fame coach. John Madden was Coryell’s Defensive Coordinator for three years at SDSU. Jim Hanifan, Rod Dowhower, and Ernie Zampese all own Super Bowl rings, and Tom Bass (1964-1985) and Sid Hall (1969-1975) had long careers at the NFL level. 19 players were drafted at least top-100 who came from SDSU under Don Coryell, including Gary Garrison (1965), Haven Moses (1968), Fred Dryer (1969), Dennis Shaw (1970), Willie Buchanon (1972) and Brian Sipe (1972). His list includes multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowl-caliber players in an era when SDSU was not as big as it is today.
Coryell becomes widely regarded for his ability to tailor an offense to the strengths of his players
(San Diego State University)
Over the years, Coryell was sought after for bigger coaching jobs with bigger schools. The University of Arizona nearly lured away Coryell before San Diego Sportswriter, Jack Murphy, led discussions with the San Diego Sports Association, ultimately coming to an agreement in subsidizing Coryell’s salary to remain SDSU. The University of Wisconsin interviewed Coryell for their head coach position after the 1969 season, but Coryell decided to remain with San Diego State for a final few seasons.
Dennis Shaw was lured away from the USC Trojans, who had initially made Shaw a tight end, and played quarterback for the Aztecs. The Aztecs began to shift into more of a passing offense at this time. Shaw led the NCAA in total passing yards with 3,000, set an NCAA record with 9 passing touchdowns in a single game, and in a season with 39.
After Shaw was drafted into the NFL, Brian Sipe became the Aztec's starting quarterback. The Aztecs had gone on a 31-game win streak at one point with a pass-heavy attack, something that wasn’t the norm of the time. Brian Sipe would go on to lead the NFL in passing touchdowns in 1979 and won the 1980 NFL MVP after a storied career. Don Coryell interviewed for the Denver Broncos head coaching vacancy but was passed for Lou Saben.
Coryell was known for tailoring an offense to the strengths of the team. He was an early pioneer in the I-Formation before it was popular, transitioned to the single-back formation, and made popular the "Joker" tight end, who was a hybrid blocker with pass catching prowess. Coryell made use of this tactic by combining option routes in offenses, using pre-snap motion and runningback screens. The schematics of his offense became the foundation in every NFL playbook used today.
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