VANCOUVER – Earlier this month a UBC Football alumnus received one of pro football's greatest honours. On February 9, 2023 it was announced that the late Don Coryell, who served as the UBC Thunderbirds head football coach in 1953 and 1954 will be posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The official induction will take place this summer in Canton, OH.
Coryell, a veteran of 204 career NFL regular season games (1973-77 – St. Louis Cardinals and 1978-1986 – San Diego Chargers), made football history when he became the first head coach to ever capture 100 career victories at both the collegiate and professional levels. He created the famous and prolific 'Air Coryell Offense' and has previously been inducted into both the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
Thunderbirds head coach Don Coryell talking strategy with star players Gordy Flemmons (left), and Roger Kronquist while line coach Dick Mitchell looks over Roger's shoulder.
Before he patrolled an NFL sideline, Coryell cut his teeth at the high school level in his native Washington, State and Honolulu, Hawaii before his fourth stop brought him north to the University of British Columbia where he quickly made an impact as a well-respected 'players coach'. One of the most notable alumni to play under Coryell was CFL Hall of Fame inductee Norm Fieldgate who spent 14 seasons with the B.C. Lions. 12 of those years (1961-1972) were spent at San Diego State University where he compiled a record of 104-19-2.
UBC Thunderbirds players and coaches at the 1983 CFL Draft. (Left to right) Jerry Dobrovolny, Mike Emery, Don Coryell, Jason Riley, Frank Smith and Bob Laycoe.
Following his time with the T-Birds, Coryell went back down south to coach in the collegiate ranks beginning at Wenatchee Valley Junior College before a brief stop at USC in 1960. One year later he was anointed head coach at San Diego State, where he would post a 104-19-2 record over the next 12 season while creating one of the most impressive small college programs in the country. Among Coryell's staff with the Aztecs were young future Hall of Fame head coaches Joe Gibbs and John Madden.
After posting 127 career collegiate victories and nine combined division/conference championships, Coryell was named head coach of the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals where he won 42 games in a span of five seasons, along with two NFC East Division championships. Next it was off to San Diego where he coached for nine seasons and managed a 69-56 record. He appeared in two AFC Championship games falling to Oakland in 1980 and Cincinnati in 1981. In 14 NFL seasons, Coryell posted a 111-83-1 record
Coryell passed away on July 1, 2010 at the age of 85 in La Mesa, California. The Class of 2023 is scheduled to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, August 5.
