Richard P. Coury (September 29, 1929 – August 15, 2020) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach. In a career that spanned across five decades, Coury coached with distinction on the high school, college, and professional levels. His most prominent posts were as head football coach at

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

from 1970 to 1971, the

Portland Storm The Portland Thunder (originally Portland Storm) was an American football team in the World Football League based out of Portland, Oregon. When the World Football League was created in October 1973, the Storm was the original New York franchise ...

of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

(WFL) in 1974, and the Boston/New Orleans/Portland Breakers of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) from 1983 to 1985. He was named USFL Coach of the Year in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Biography

Coury was born to Lebanese-American parents, Thomas ("Tannous") and Mary Coury ("Khouri"). Thomas immigrated to the US in 1903 from Beirut, and Mary followed in 1910. Coury grew up in

Athens, Ohio Athens is a city in Athens County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 United States census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Athe ...

and was a star athlete in football, basketball, and baseball at Athens High School. A 1951

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

graduate, Coury was not a football player, but served as a student assistant for head coach

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to ...

. After graduating from Notre Dame with a bachelor's degree in physical education, Coury enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

where he, with a recommendation from Coach Leahy, became the backfield coach for the Camp Drake Bulldogs, a football team composed of U.S. Army Soldiers stationed in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. It would be the closest

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

Coury would come to the shores of Korea. His first full-time coaching position was an assistant at Mater Dei High School in 1953 under head coach Tom Carter for two seasons, then under Steve Musseau until 1956. After four seasons, Coury moved up to head the program, compiling a record of 85–9–5 from 1957 to 1965, winning seven Angelus League titles, three CIF-Southern Section championships along with one runner-up finish. Among his many star players included quarterback and future Heisman Trophy winner

John Huarte John Gregory Huarte (; born April 6, 1944) is an American former professional football quarterback who played with several teams in the American Football League (AFL), the National Football League (NFL), and in the World Football League (WFL) be ...

. He then joined

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

coach John McKay's staff as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

in 1966. Coury then moved on to

, serving as the school's first head coach, tallying a record of 13–8–1 from 1970 and 1971. Coury had also held coaching positions with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in the National Football League. His last coaching job was with the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

before he retired in 1999 to become a scout. Coury died on August 15, 2020, at the age of 90.

Personal

Coury was the father of current

Lake Oswego High School Lake Oswego High School (LOHS) is a public high school in Lake Oswego, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Lake Oswego School District. History Lake Oswego High School first opened in September 1951 as a six-year school, with an enrollment ...

football head coach Steve Coury.

Head coaching record

High School

College

WFL

USFL

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coury, Dick 1929 births 2020 deaths Cal State Fullerton Titans football coaches Coaches of American football from Ohio Denver Broncos coaches High school football coaches in California Houston Oilers coaches Los Angeles Rams coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches Military personnel from Ohio NFL offensive coordinators New England Patriots coaches American people of Lebanese descent Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches People from Athens, Ohio Sportspeople from Athens County, Ohio Philadelphia Eagles coaches Portland Storm coaches San Diego Chargers coaches USC Trojans football coaches Portland Breakers coaches Sportspeople of Lebanese descent