Before Chuck Noll arrived in Pittsburg to coach the Steelers, the team had experienced only two winning seasons in the previous nine years. By the time he retired in 1979, the Pittsburg Steelers had won four Super Bowls and every football fan in the world knew about the ‘Steel Curtain”.
Along with winning Super Bowls IX, X, XIII & XIV, (9,10,13 & 14) Coach Noll amassed an impressive record with the Steelers of 88-27-1 during their glory years of 1972-1979. His overall record in Pittsburg was 209-156-1, still quite respectable.
Chuck Noll had a strong supporting cast in Pittsburg in the forms of quarterback Terry Bradshaw and running back Franco Harris, also two of the greats. All three of these NFL legends are still highly revered in Pittsburg where excellent football teams are now the norm.
Art Rooney Jr., the son of the founder and long time colorful owner of the Steelers franchise, once told the press in Pittsburg that his Dad had once said, “Chuck Noll is the best thing to happen to the Rooneys since they got on the boat in Ireland”.
Bill Cowher tweeted, “RIP Chuck. You had such a positive impact on many people’s lives. It was an Honor and a Blessing to follow in your footsteps. Thanks Coach!” In fact many of the legends of professional football had extremely complementary things to say about head coach Chuck Noll.
Denver Broncos coach John Fox, a disciple of coach Noll, said, “I think he’s the greatest guy I’ve ever been around. He was very calm, very technique and fundamentals oriented. He was not a screamer. He wasn’t up or down. I think his biggest thing is that he was the same guy every day. He was not an ego like ‘Look what I’m doing’. He was a great mentor, I know that”.
Other well known contemporary coaches to come out of the Chuck Noll system are Jerry Glanville, Bill Cowher and Tony Dungy. They all agree that Noll’s strong point was not so much inspiring the want to in a football player but teaching him ‘how to’ play football at the professional level.
Steelers chairman Dan Rooney told reporters after hearing the news of Noll’s passing, “As for the football end of it, I think he ranks with Halas and Lombardi.”
Chuck Noll was elected to the National Football League Hall of Fame in 1993.
