Under Coryell with the Chargers, Fouts became a star in an offense that didn’t emphasize running the ball, which was the standard approach in that era. To create mismatches, Coryell didn’t set up players in the exact spots and roles prescribed in textbooks.

Before the snap, he had players moving. After the snap, he had Fouts throw, throw and throw the ball, farther and more often than any team before. Those Chargers even threw to the usually neglected tight end position, where they had the future Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow. The Chargers’ passing game became so distinctive that it gained a nickname: Air Coryell.

“My best argument for why Don Coryell should be in the Hall of Fame is this: Ask yourself, how did the game get to the point where 4,000 yards is the norm now and where this three-, four-, five-wide-receiver stuff is the norm, and passing more than running is the norm?” Fouts said. “That was Don Coryell.”

Coryell brought life to the Chargers, who hadn’t had a winning season in nearly a decade before he showed up, and his explosive offense — Fouts said the players considered any game under 40 points disappointing — rallied the city around the team. Finally, San Diego had a franchise to be proud of, and the Chargers were winning in style: They led the league in passing for six straight seasons, from 1978 through 1983, and then did it again in 1985.

“Before Coryell, things were rough,” Fouts said. “We were drawing 25-30,000, and most of them were booing the quarterback. He helped turn things around, and Charger power was born. You hear about love affairs, and it was kind of like that. It was special.”

Mindy Lewis, Coryell’s daughter, remembers her father, who died in 2010, as the city’s saint. She recalled bumper stickers reading “Coryell for President” and “Coryell Saves.”