Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

In January 1978, a bitter Don Coryell (while still under contract in St. Louis) was a candidate to coach both the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints, although those teams chose George Allen and Dick Nolan, respectively, over Coryell.

Both the Rams and Saints might have made interesting settings for Air Coryell. Would Coryell have guided the Rams to draft a big-time receiver or tight end, or resurrected Charlie Young's once-promising career back to Pro Bowl status? Would any of the Rams QBs been able to keep up with the demands of the Air Coryell offense?

In New Orleans, would Coryell have taken some of the pieces he later collected in San Diego (Chuck Muncie, Wes Chandler) and turned Archie Manning into the QB that Dan Fouts later became? Perhaps some trades or sly draft picks of key offensive linemen could have ignited the Saints?

FYI, here's a timeline I've gleaned from newspaper reports of Coryell's candidacy with the Saints in Feb. 1978:

Feb. 4, 1978 – The AP reports that Saints VP of administration Harry Hulmes has said “Coryell’s name was one of the first brought up” after Hank Stram was fired, although Coryell is still under contract to St. Louis.

Feb. 6, 1978 – Saints hire Dick Nolan as head coach. Saints owner John Mecom said the decision came down to Nolan or Coryell. Mecom said “I talked to Coryell -- long enough to know that Dick Nolan is my man.” Coryell reportedly said he was disappointed by the decision, as he was earlier when the Rams passed over him to hire George Allen.

Cardinal owner Bill Bidwill has said he would have wanted compensation from the Saints from Coryell, reportedly a second-round draft choice. Bidwill had wanted a first-round choice from the Rams if Coryell had gone there.

Feb. 10, 1978 – Cardinals fire Don Coryell.

I was wondering what the Forum's thoughts were on this, as well as any other tidbits behind the reasoning of LA and NO to pass up Coryell, who admittedly was looking a bit stale at the time after St. Louis sputtered at the end of 1977.

Honestly, at the time Allen and Nolan had better resumes. Been in the playoffs more and gotten farther. So it's not that surprising Coryell was passed over for them. Allen and Nolan both turned around losing teams as well (Coryell did this too.)

The other jobs open were Bears, Bills, Browns, Chiefs, 49ers, and Lions. Chuck Knox and Monte Clark got two of those. Knox had a better resume than Coryell, and Clark was pretty hot and got hired rather quickly. The 49ers were a mess best avoided. That leaves the Bears, Browns, and Chiefs. The Bears went for Neill Armstrong, D coordinator from Minnesota. Marv Levy came from Canada; there have been so few from there who knows where he should rank. Rutigliano was the oddball; he had just kicked around as a receiver's coach.

The timing of Coryell's exit might have had a lot to do with any offers he might have gotten. It wound up working out; San Diego was a better than average set-up for Coryell IMO, though cheapskate owner Gene Klein wound up causing problems.

With regard to the Browns' opening, Modell had just fired the intense Forrest Gregg and presumably wasn't looking for a clone, so he hired Rutigliano even before 1977 had ended. Rutigliano had gotten into the NFL by being tied with Lou Saban--first at Maryland for a year before heading to Denver. That led to New England and then New Orleans.

Gregg, John Ralston and Norm Van Brocklin all called to express their interest in the Saints job, though it's doubtful they were under consideration--especially Van Brocklin, who openly campaigned for the job: "I think I could excite that town."

Nolan was Stram's DC, so Mecom presumably felt more comfortable with him than Coryell, who obviously had his issues with an equally bumbling management setup.

As far as the Rams, Bill Walsh was considered a leading candidate, but because Carroll Rosenbloom was in no rush to make the hire and Walsh was in the thick of recruiting season at Stanford, he bowed out. Allen and Dan Reeves were then considered the top candidates, with longshots being Eddie Robinson, Ralston and Ray Malavasi--who ended up being in the right position when Allen flamed out after two exhibition games.