Air Coryell Far From Forgotten : Charger and Ram Offenses Borrow From Former Coach

Don Coryell is back from his trip to the High Sierras, just in time for tonight’s Charger-Ram exhibition game at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

And little does Coryell know that he’s an integral part of this ballgame.

On one side, there are the Rams and their Human Playbook, Ernie Zampese. Zampese spent eight seasons under Coryell in San Diego and believes there’s no pass his offense can’t complete. Ram quarterback Jim Everett is listening closely.

On the other side, there is Charger Coach Al Saunders and his new armchair quarterback, Roger Theder. Theder will sit in the press box and call all the plays this year, but Saunders readily admits that the new Charger offense is essentially the old Charger offense under Coryell.

“Same scheme, same system, same terminology,” Saunders said.

So, although Eric Dickerson cannot be discounted, what we have here are two Air Coryell offenses, except that Coryell will be far removed, sitting comfortably at home. And, Dickerson, who is nursing his sore hamstrings, won’t play in the game.

Coryell, who resigned as Charger coach last season, said in a telephone interview Saturday that he might listen to a play or two on radio but that he doesn’t miss football in the least.

“Oh, everything’s just fine,” Coryell said. “It’s been real easy watching instead of coaching. Real easy. I spent 35 years in football, 33 as a head coach. It’s kind of nice to get all that pressure off my back. I just got back from the mountains. It was great.”

Coryell said the Chargers were great in their first exhibition game against Dallas, a 29-0 victory at home.

“I saw a little bit of it (on tape), and I thought they looked pretty good,” Coryell said. “Actually, they looked damn good.”

But tonight is a new night. While the Rams must get used to Zampese, the Chargers must become familiar with Theder, the former California head coach who once let a young assistant named Al Saunders call plays for him at Berkeley.

“Yeah, Al called my plays,” Theder said this week. “We think alike.”

Theder, who isn’t as pass-happy as some former Charger assistants, has made some subtle changes in the Coryell-Zampese offense. For one, Theder noticed that the Chargers were fairly predictable. Quarterback Dan Fouts was trying to force passes to the same receivers, namely Wes Chandler and Kellen Winslow, over and over.

Hence, Fouts was intercepted 22 times.

“All of a sudden, they’re throwing more interceptions, and they aren’t as productive as they’ve been on offense,” Theder said. “What are the reasons? What we’re trying to do is find out. Is it the players or the system?”

For starters, Theder has ordered his quarterbacks to divvy up the football. Sure, he says, throw it to Winslow when he’s open, but that’s Trumaine Johnson over there, too. And Lionel James. And so on. Theder also wants to run the ball out of passing formations, just to keep opposing defenses a little paranoid.

Because Fouts, a close friend of Zampese’s, is unavailable for duty tonight, Mark Herrmann, a close friend of Theder’s, will get the bulk of the work. Talk to Theder about Fouts and Herrmann, and the impression is that Herrmann will start the opening game in Kansas City.

“The guy who’s been super in this whole thing is Mark Herrmann,” said Theder, who also coached Herrmann in Indianapolis. “I mean, Mark knows this system as well as anybody. As well as Ernie Zampese did, and as well as I know it right now.

“Darn right we can open the season with Mark. . . . I’m much more impressed with him now than I ever felt I would be after being around him in Indianapolis.”

People in the Charger organization privately think 7-9 would be a fine record with Herrmann as a starter, but Theder balks at that.

“I think we can win with him, but we’ll have to help him,” he said. “The thing is, Mark Herrmann won’t get you beat. He won’t throw the interceptions and screw it up. If our defense is playing better--and we think it will be better--we can win with Mark Herrmann.”

As for Fouts, Theder worries that any 36-year-old quarterback is only one blind-side sack away from retirement.

“He can play, all right,” Theder said. “He can do it for one game or for maybe three or four. But I worry about him getting hurt because he’s not getting himself warmed up well enough right now or throwing enough balls right now. That’s what scares me at his age. He believes strongly that he knows how to prepare himself, but I just think as you get a little older. . . . You gotta watch your body.”

Rick Neuheisel, the leading candidate to be the No. 3 quarterback, will play parts of the first and second half. Neuheisel, who has completed two years of law school at USC, had his sister, Katie, register him for fall classes this week, just in case he gets cut.

“If I get released,” Neuheisel said, “I’ll take a couple of days to see if anyone else is interested, and if not, I’ll catch up in law school. I told Roger (Theder) if I get cut, I’ll be 300 pages behind. He said: ‘Start studying.’

“Listen, I’d rather play football. Too Tall (Jones) is nothing compared to the bar exam.”

Rookie Mark Vlasic will also play, but the Chargers believe he needs some time to develop.

Twenty Chargers won’t play because of injuries, a list that includes former Ram running back Barry Redden (ankle), running back Gary Anderson (ankle), Fouts (back), linebacker Chip Banks (Achilles’ tendon), nose tackle Terry Unrein (knee), guard-tackle James FitzPatrick (knee), wide receiver Trumaine Johnson (ankle) and linebacker Andy Hawkins (groin).

Also, newly acquired wide receiver Bobby Johnson, who arrived in camp Saturday, will not suit up for the game.

So it’s better to ask: Who will play? Well, running back Kevin Scott, who ran 74 yards for a touchdown against Dallas, will return kicks instead of Trumaine Johnson, and Timmie Ware will take Johnson’s turn at wide receiver.

On defense, rookie cornerback Lou Brock, a No. 2 pick, needs a good game. This week, he said: “I better get better or I might be going home.” Also, defensive end Earl Wilson and nose tackle Mike Charles, both 300 pounders, will make their season debuts.

Special teams coach Wayne Sevier wants deeper kickoffs. Kickers Jeff Gaffney and Vince Abbott, who are challenging incumbent Rolf Benirschke, will share the kickoff duties, and neither can afford an off night. Benirschke will be available for extra points.

The game will be televised nationally on ESPN (though blacked out locally), but Saunders said: “Hey, we look at it as just another day of practice.”