When I first heard about the passing of Chuck Noll, it felt like a loss of a family patriarch. I will be the first to admit that my understanding of how great Chuck Noll was as a coach came from reading and research more than first hand experience. The coaching resume speaks for itself; First Ballot Hall of Famer, Four Super Bowl Championships, .566 Winning percentage a great “Coaching Tree”. But that doesn’t even remotely tell the story of what Coach Noll meant to the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh.
As a quiet dignified man, he never believed in self promotion and was quick to deflect to the players when they succeeded. His complicated relationship with Terry Bradshaw and prickly relationship with the press has hurt him in the “all-time” coaches discussion. That isn’t something that I think ever bothered him. I wrote once before, “He knew he was smarter than you were, he just didn’t care if you knew it.”
Much like the designation of BC in the Julian calendar, the Steelers have a BC as well; Before Chuck, when they wandered in the wilderness for over 30+ years, as footballs laughing stock. The Steelers Won 156 games, lost 240 and tied 18. Coach Noll, showed up, first he changed the culture, then he built a winner, then a Dynasty, and eventually a foundation that the entire Steelers organization is built on to this day.
“The Standard is the Standard,” is the common theme from Coach Tomlin. Chuck Noll established that standard. They weren’t the same old Steelers anymore. Since that day he showed up as coach, the Steelers have won 413 games, lost 279 and tied 2. While the Rooney family are the most important people in Steeler history, Coach Noll is a very close second.
What is lost on a generations of fans is that his Coaching legend was so much more than just the 1970 Steelers, while his 80’s teams didn’t win the Super Bowl, he did some of his best coaching. He churned out six winning teams with a crumbling dynasty, thin talent and a limited budget. In 1989 coming off one of the worst seasons he ever had as a coach, he started the season 0-2 while getting blown out in both games. Noll never lost composure and led the Steelers to the playoffs, with a huge upset win over division rival Houston and their big mouth coach Jerry Glanville (Who was fired because of the loss) and they came within a few plays of pulling the upset against the eventual AFC Champion Broncos. Of the final two playoff games that Noll lost, the QB matchups were Dan Marino v. Mark Malone and John Elway v. Bubby Brister. Of the final two that he won, it was Mark Malone beating Hall Of Famer John Elway and Bubby Brister besting Hall of Famer Warren Moon, that should sum up great coaching.
His final seasons as Steelers coach laid the foundation that Coach Cowher’s early success was built on. He coached, Dermonti Dawson, Greg Lloyd, Rod Woodson, Carnell Lake, Hardy Nickerson, John Jackson, Jerry Olsavsky, DJ Johnson, Justin Strzelczyk, Barry Foster and Neil O’Donnell.
What he didn’t realize was, he did his life’s work and it’s impact is felt long after the glow of Super Bowl success had begun to fade and the city of Pittsburgh has been better for it ever since.
My prayers are with his family and all of Steelers Nation!
GOD BLESS CHUCK NOLL!!!
They concur with my writing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-RMEPgCk6U
From the Associated Press; Quotes about Coach Noll
Quotes about former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll, who died Friday at 82.
“He was a tough coach to me, and I spent more time with him than anybody, so I know. I learned how to be mentally tough with him, and for that I can never say thank you enough, because that got me through divorces, Super Bowls, and those times when I had bad moments in big games. He made me mentally strong, which I wasn’t. And he instilled in me a great work ethic.” — Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw.
“Instead, he says: “Gentlemen, welcome to the NFL, you are now being paid to play, football is your profession. But I can tell you it is not your life. You can’t let it be. Part of my job is to help you find your life’s work.’
“That is the kind of things that stuck with me about Chuck.” — Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy.
“He never won Coach of the Year until 1989, but he didn’t care about those things. He did what he felt was right, and it carried over obviously to the football team. Chuck Noll was a coach who always was concerned with the basics of the sport. He always used to say, ‘This game is blocking and tackling,’ and to him that was playing the game the way it should be played.” — Steelers owner Dan Rooney.
“Chuck was just the ultimate leader. He had truth and belief in what he was saying, and over time all of those things he said were validated, the things about winning football games and being a solid citizen.” — Hall of Fame defensive tackle Joe Greene.
“He was a father figure, with me being a young African-American growing up in the South and losing my father early in my college career. My father died during my freshman year of college. Just being young and immature, Chuck was a stabilizer; he was a stabilizing figure in my life. He was a great mentor and a great leader. He was special.” — Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount.
“He’s the one who turned the thing around. I played for a bunch of coaches, three or four coaches. You could tell it was going nowhere until he came. And you knew he had a plan. He knew what he wanted to do. He had the respect of all the players. A lot of times guys go around and make remarks about coaches and things like that, just kidding around. But nobody ever kidded around. They had the greatest respect for Chuck.” — Former Steelers running back and assistant coach Dick Hoak.
Big Ben Praises Coach Noll:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/146aa31cd744a1a8