Air Coryell

In American football, Air Coryell is the offensive scheme and philosophy developed by former San Diego Chargers coach Don Coryell. The offensive philosophy has been also called the "Coryell offense" or the "vertical offense".

With Dan Fouts as quarterback, the San Diego Chargers' offense was among the greatest passing offenses in National Football League history. The Chargers led the league in passing yards an NFL record six consecutive years from 1978 to 1983 and again in 1985. They also led the league in total yards in offense 1978–83 and 1985. Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner, and Kellen Winslow would all be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame from those Charger teams.

The pro set was the default NFL scheme prior to Don Coryell. While it is more of a formation, the underlying philosophy of the pro set was based on becoming more successful when a team was forced to pass by providing 1 or even 2 backs to help protect the QB. Prior to Coryell, the pro set was generally a running offense that used play action fakes to set up deep passing attempts when defenses stacked up vs the running game.

The pro set features a TE, 2 WRs, and a Halfback and fullback, often split behind the QB. While QBs can take a snap from the center from the shotgun position, in general the pro set QB takes the ball under center to allow for better play action fakes to the running back. Offenses tended to be ball-control, grind-it-out style offenses. In 1978, the contact from defenders on receivers was minimized with the passing of Mel Blount Rule.

Coryell set the league on its ear with his passing offenses after moving up from the college ranks. He won two consecutive division titles (1974–1975) with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals offense emphasized the pass while running the standard pro set. Coryell moved to the Chargers and won three straight division titles (1979–1981) and reached the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. The Chargers in 1979 were the first AFC Western Division champion to run more passing plays (541) than rushing (481). Coryell's Chargers teams led the league in passing in seven of eight years. The Pro Football Hall of Fame called the Chargers' offenses under Coryell "one of the most explosive and exciting offenses that ever set foot on an NFL field." Coryell is the first coach ever to win more than 100 games at both the collegiate and professional level. Coryell's offensive innovations changed the entire nature of the league from a run-first league to a pass-first one.

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