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), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He served as head football coach at

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

from 1970 to 1971, compiling a record of 13–8–1. Coury was also the head coach for 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 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

(WFL) in 1974 compiling a record of 7–12–1, 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 the USFL coach of the year in 1983 and compiled an overall record of 25–29–0.

Biography

Coury was born to Lebanese-American parents, Thomas ("Tannous") and Mary Coury ("Khouri"). Thomas immigrated to the USA in 1903 from Beirut, and Mary followed in 1910. A 1951

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

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 football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to 1940 and at ...

. After graduating he enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

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 ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. It would be the closest

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

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 Stephen Joseph Musseau Jr. (July 15, 1923 – December 28, 1997) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Idaho for three seasons, from 1965 to 1967, compiling a record of 13–17. Following coachi ...

until 1956. After four seasons, Coury moved up to head the program, compiling a record of 85–9–5 from 1957 to 1965. 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 C ...

coach John McKay's staff as

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

in 1966. Coury then moved on to

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

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

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

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

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

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 from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

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. History Lake Oswego High School first opened in September 1951 as a six-year school, with an enrollment of 564. In 1956, it became a four-year high sch ...

football head coach Steve Coury.

Head coaching record

College

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 National Football League offensive coordinators New England Patriots coaches American people of Lebanese descent Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches People from Athens, Ohio Philadelphia Eagles coaches Portland Storm coaches San Diego Chargers coaches USC Trojans football coaches United States Football League coaches Sportspeople of Lebanese descent