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Jim Trotter has a nice column on Don Coryell, who died on Thursday at 85. He argues that Coryell deserves a place in the Hall of Fame.
I tend to agree. Coryell is credited with inventing the I-formation, the H-back position and popularizing situational substitutions. Those were big offensive breakthroughs. They're standard around the league now.
When the Steelers were shutting down offenses in the '70s, with their Steel Curtain defense, they were doing so with pretty much the same 11 guys on the field on every down. That kind of defense simply doesn't work against the kind of offense Coryell brought to the table.
"He was way ahead of his time," former Colts Tony Dungy said. "The things that they did offensively and the way that they moved the ball, the way that he figured out talent and utilized the best of everybody's abilities -- he was phenomenal. Most of these principles that people are running now trace back to what he did."
It's not a long article, and it's worth a read.
—Ian Allan
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