The Most Underachieving NFL Head Coaches Ever For All 32 Teams
By Erik Lambert
Don Coryell (Los Angeles Chargers)
The man was one of the great offensive innovators in NFL history. His contributions to the passing game have made the league what it is today. Several teams still use many of the concepts his offenses did back in the 1970s and 1980s. He led two teams to success but it was his time with the Chargers where he truly made his name. It’s also where he revealed his greatest flaws as a head coach and why he’s not in the Hall of Fame.
Coryell reached the AFC championship twice in the early 1980s but lost both times. The culprit in both cases was his defense. Coryell had some good players at that time on that side of the ball including Fred Dean and Louie Kelcher. Yet it always struggled to stop opponents when it mattered. Part of being a great head coach is getting the entire team to play great, not just one section of it. The Chargers gave up at least 27 points in five of the seven playoff games he coached.