Maybe Coryell will have a chance for the next HOF?

[Bolt-O]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/01/hall-of-fame-adds-contributors-category/

If he can't make it as a Head Coach, he should make it as the most influential coach to the modern game since Gilman.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

If that article mentions DeBartolo and Modell as examples and not Coryell, I doubt it'll make the slightest difference.

It's heartbreaking, but I doubt it'll ever happen.

[zoom]

If that article mentions DeBartolo and Modell as examples and not Coryell, I doubt it'll make the slightest difference.

It's heartbreaking, but I doubt it'll ever happen.

I read in a chat (Acee's , I think ) that after asking several HOF voters, he didn 't think Coryell would ever get voted in. Sucks.

[CoronaDoug]

The Hall of Shame is nothing more than a joke. The voting process is flawed. I will not respect it or the voters because of Don being snubbed.

[Faded blues]

The Hall of Shame is nothing more than a joke. The voting process is flawed. I will not respect it or the voters because of Don being snubbed.

This. PLUS one million.

F.uck the hall.

[Steve]

The sad thing is that I don't think most sportwriters know about how influential Coryell was in the running game. He is the guy who influenced all the I formation stuff that came out of California, and finally got to the NFL from the USC offense (student body left/right). I don't know of a single coach who influenced the game quite so much. He is one of the guys who helped influence guys like Bill Walsh, and the various run and shoot coaches. And those guys influenced the guys who are now coaching the spread. And as far as the NFL itself, before Coryell, everyone was running 2 RB, 2 WR and 1 TE, since Vince Lombardi introduced the idea of the TE. And since all the modern concepts that about TE come from Coryell, I don't understand how he can't be the most influential coach of all time.

[Boltx]

What really is the reason for the snub for all these years?

[Beerman]

What really is the reason for the snub for all these years?

Didn't win anything I assume. Are there any coaches without rings in the HOF?

[Steve]

His record (W-L) is not nearly good enough to make it to the HOF on it's own. There are many coaches who have accomplished much more in terms of their teams W-L record, championships, division titles, etc. Thanks to Klein being an ass, he never really had the chance to develop a team like some of his contemporaries did. It is worth noting that to win a SB back in his day, you had to beat teams coached by Chuck Noll, Don Shula, Tom Flores... there was a tremendous number of all time great teams at that point in the AFC, so just because you come out on the losing end of those guys didn't make you a bad coach.

But I don't think that is the issue. Again, he was a good (not great) game day coach who made a great impact to the game, because he kept finding ways to innovate and take teams of lesser talent and make them competitive. The only part of modern offense that doesn't owe him a huge debt is the zone running game, which develop from the defenses that people came up with to stop his offenses. And his coaching tree matches up well if you put it against anyone.

Marv Levy and Sid Gillman are in the pro football hall of fame, and neither won a ring. I once heard Jim Trotter say that there is a reluctance among voters to vote in coaches (especially who didn't win a SB) when there are so many deserving players waiting to get in. I understand that, but with the new category, why the hell are they thinking about guys like Model and DeBartalo coming up first? I'm not saying they don't deserve to get in the HOF, but their contributions pale compared to Coryell. Coryell should be a first ballot guy on the life time contributions list. Not that the others shouldn't, but put them in the order they deserve. I could see Steve Sabol being there before Don, and Tags was a pretty good commish (but he is still alive, so they can hold off on him a bit).

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

I'm not sure why he doesn't get more cred, but I suspect that it has a little something to do with his personality. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Coryell really shunned the spotlight and was rarely accessible to the media. In fact, a lot of people never even really knew what his voice sounded like. A guy like Belichick is active in a media age and is known for disliking the media, but he's out there and everyone knows him. Parcells had famous battles with reporters, in part because he had disdain for the media but in part bc he enjoyed it. Coryell had very very little interaction with the media, as I recall. I think he sort of preferred to stay in his office and diagram plays or being out on the field coaching.

http://www.chargers.com/multimedia/videos/Don-Coryell-1924-2010/a7c5c2cb-4375-44bb-b590-93f3cf9fe151