Sports at Lunch, Don Coryell and his former assistant coaches with Aztecs and Chargers

Former Chargers and San Diego State coach Don Coryell and his former assistant coaches appeared at Sports at Lunch on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006 at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.

Don Coryell and his former assistants with the Aztecs and Chargers visited with HOC founder Bob Breitbard in his office before Sports at Lunch. Seated left to right with a bat San Diegan Ted Williams used to his .406 in 1941 are Tom Bass and Don Coryell. Standing left to right are Ernie Zampese, Sid Hall, Claude Gilbert, Bob Breitbard and former SDSU player Fred Dryer, who served as moderator. Photo: Thomas Kiefner.

SDSU's past and present visited with Don coryell (seated) in Bob Breitbard's office at the Hall of Champions. (Leftt to right, former Coryell assistants Sid Hall and Claude Gilbert greet SDSU head coach Chuck Long and SDSU athletic director Jeff Schemmel. Photo: Thomas Kiefner.

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09-12-2006
: By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

It wasn't the first time Don Coryell enjoyed a reunion with former coaches and players and his eternal San Diego fans at the Hall of Champions for Sports at Lunch, and it probably won't be the last.

Such is the affection San Diego football fans have for the man who first lifted San Diego State's program and then the Chargers. Coryell, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999, is still the only coach to win 100 games in both college and the NFL.

At San Diego State, he lifted the Aztecs from a perennial loser to a small college power and then a Division I-A giant killer.

With the Chargers, he took over a 1-3 team and lifted it to a 9-7 record the remainder of the season. The next three years Air Coryell took off as the Chargers won three straight AFC West titles and made a fourth straight playoff appearance in 1982 as a wild-card entry.

With the talk about the old days came a lot of laughter as former SDSU and NFL player Fred Dryer served as the moderator for a gathering that included Coryell and his former assistants with both the Chargers and the Aztecs, Tom Bass, Claude Gilbert, Sid Hall and Ernie Zampese.

"We played a lot of big games," Hall said, "but we had a ton of fun."

Dryer and the Coryell's old assistants spoke of a man who cared them as a person and made them better players and coaches.

"If I thought a guy knew more about some type of coaching than I did, then I just let him coach," Coryell said. "Go ahead do your thing. I was concerned with hiring good men and let them figure out a way to get the job done."

Zampese on Coryell:

"He had a great affinity for being excited about the game of football and being excited about the game we were playing at the time. He had an unbelievable urge to win games. I will never forget Don Coryell for the things he's done for me. I don't know where I'd be if he hadn't hired me."

Hall on Coryell

"Don was a great guy as far as defensive coaches were econcerned. All he wanted was you to get the ball back as quick as you could so he could get it into the end zone. If you got it back, very seldom did he have trouble getting int he end zone."

Bass on Coryell:,/p>

"We were going to try and encourage and motivate players in every way. We had a great run of junior college players. It was probably the most interesting and challenging coaching expierence I ever had."

Gilbert on Coryell:

He was a wonderful coach who was so loyal to his players and coaching staff. We all owe him everything for getting us started in college football."

Tom Shanahan can be contacted at 619-699-2334 or toms@sdhoc.com.