Don Coryell, innovative former coach of Chargers and Cardinals, picked as Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist

The Pro Football Hall of Fame's class of 2023 will include an innovative offensive coach named Don Coryell.

A group of 12 coaches and contributors named the former coach as their candidate. If 80% of the full Hall of Fame panel of voters support him, he'll get into the Hall.

In 14 seasons in the National Football League, Coryell had a winning record but never made it to a Super Bowl.

He put together an offense that still influences the game today, thanks to rule changes that opened up the passing game in the late 1970s.

After a successful collegiate stint at San Diego State, where he helped groom future Hall of Fame coaches, he took over the St. LouisCardinals in 1973.

He came to three straight double-digit win seasons and the team's only two division titles in St. Louis with Jim Hart as his quarterback. The coach of the year was won by Coryell.

In the 1978 season, he and Dan Fouts formed one of the most dynamic passing games in the league.

With an offense that featured pre-snap motion, only one running back was able to thrive on throwing the ball down the field.

The success was immediate with the Bolts making the playoffs in four of their first five seasons, with back-to-back trips to the title game in 1980 and 1981.

The team failed to post a winning record in his last four seasons because of a poor defense.

The Bolts averaged 390.8 yards per game and scored 26.2 points per game during his time.

The third-worst passing team of that era was the Rams, who averaged 170.5 yards per game, while the second-best passing team was the 49ers, who averaged 222 yards per game.

He was the first coach to win 100 games in college and the pros.

The committee considered more than one candidate, including Roone Arledge, Mike Holmgren, Frank Kilroy, RobertKraft, Art Modell, BuddyParker, Dan Reeves, Art Rooney Jr., Mike Shanahan, Clark Shaughnessy and John Wooten.

Super Bowl V's Most Valuable Player Chuck Howley and All-Pro defenders Joe Klecko and Ken Riley were selected by a panel last week to compete in the senior category. If 80% of voters back them in January, they'll get in.

Up to five modern era candidates could be voted on by the committee.

Next summer, the Class of 2023 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.