His offensive concepts and mentoring of people like Joe Gibbs have left their mark on football forever. Fouts, among others, are still lobbying for his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I, for one, will be rooting for this as well. Though, it is difficult for coaches that did not win a super bowl to get enshrined, it is not impossible.

Coryell was the first guy to say,

Let’s go vertical and make some big plays.

Never forget that. The game never will.

Bill Williamson of ESPN posted the memorial arrangements in his blog. If you remember Don Coryell and you can make it, great. The speakers should be very insightful and very moving, as friends and people who were influenced by him. Here are the arrangements, thanks to Bill Williamson!

The San Diego Chargers have announced there will be a public celebration for former San Diego State and Chargers head coach Don Coryell on July 12. He died Thursday at the age of 85.

It will take place at the Viejas Arena at San Diego State University at 2 p.m. In a release by the Chargers, it was announced that long-time friends of Coryell will speak. It is requested that in lieu of flowers, anyone who wants to honor Coryell’s legacy can make a donation to the Don Coryell Scholarship Endowment at San Diego State University and mailed to:

The Campanile Foundation
Attn: Don Coryell Scholarship Fund
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-4313
Tax ID #33-0868418

Rest in piece, Air Coryell. You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten.

The (nearly) $100 Million Man

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers signed a six-year contract extension worth- drum roll please- $93 million, according to the Associated Press. 

$38 million will be guaranteed for Rivers, who is smashing all of Dan Fouts’ old school Chargers records for the position.

This contract puts Philip up there with the elite signal callers in the game, salary wise. He’s making Manning money, but the question remains- can he bring the Lombardi Trophy to San Diego? The Chargers certainly think so, and now they’re banking on it… big time.

I like Rivers’ moxie on the field. He’s a gamer. The guy has also proven he’s tough. He’s still young, only 27-years-old, and hasn’t faced real serious injuries. The Bolts have been in the playoffs the past three years with him, albeit with mediocre record last year.

This is a great move. The organization has finally laid a fat contract on a player to show they want to remain a contender, and not slink into the playoffs via fluke or Cinderella Story.

Pieces are in place, money is on the table. Let’s kick the tires on this team and get Week 1 in gear already.