Don Coryell

Head coach, San Diego State, 1969 to 1972

Now

Career arc

Stats

Big games

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

3-1 against his rivals. Just 1-2 against Johnny Majors.

Rivalry record

3-1

75.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

5-3

62.5% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

Fresno State3-175%

The toughest matchup

vs. Johnny Majors1-2

3 meetings, 1970–1972

’70 L’71 L’72 W

33% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Power Program

0-1 0.0%

National Program

5-0 100.0%

Regional Program

18-5 78.3%

Building the roster

Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.

1Roster ownership
2The NFL pipeline

Roster ownership

This coach's entire tenure (1969-1972) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.

“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.

The NFL pipeline

at least15Drafted

players drafted into the NFL off his teams here (a floor — see the note below). None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here. 2 went in the first round.

At least 15 — his 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 seasons predate the modern 7-round draft, so this table’s pre-1994 pick counts are a floor, not a full count, for those seasons.

0 roster-verified · 15 estimated

Most recent picks first

Year	Pick	Player	Pos	NFL team	Note
1973	R1.15	Isaac Curtis	Wide Receiver	Cincinnati Bengals	Estimated
1973	R4.12	Bill Ferguson	Linebacker	New York Jets	Estimated
1973	R6.03	Jim Peterson	Defensive End	Los Angeles Rams	Estimated
1972	R1.07	Willie Buchanon	Defensive Back	Green Bay Packers	Estimated
1972	R2.23	Tom Reynolds	Wide Receiver	New England Patriots	Estimated
1972	R4.06	Martin Imhof	Defensive Tackle	St. Louis Cardinals	Estimated
1972	R4.12	Robert West	Wide Receiver	Dallas Cowboys	Estimated
1972	R6.11	Bruce Ward	Offensive Guard	San Diego Chargers	Estimated

Year	Pick	Player	Pos	NFL team	Note
1971	R2.07	Ken Burrow	Wide Receiver	Atlanta Falcons	Estimated
1971	R2.24	Henry Allison	Offensive Guard	Philadelphia Eagles	Estimated
1971	R5.04	Tom Shellabarger	Offensive Tackle	Philadelphia Eagles	Estimated
1971	R6.07	Tom Hayes	Defensive Back	Atlanta Falcons	Estimated
1970	R2.04	Dennis Shaw	Quarterback	Buffalo Bills	Estimated
1970	R4.26	Billie Hayes	Defensive Back	Cincinnati Bengals	Estimated
1970	R7.10	Lon Woodard	Defensive End	New Orleans Saints	Estimated

A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.