Legendary Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll has passed away at the age of 82. Known amongst Steeler nation as the emperor, Noll was the person that helped lift the Steelers from being the laughing stock of the NFL to the cream of the crop franchise during the 1970s Superbowl era. Most great coaches have a signature moment or style about them that makes them legendary. Bill Walsh had the west coast offense, Don Shula had the perfect season, Paul Brown had the extensive coaching tree. Chuck Noll’s signature was his ability to identify and evaluate talent, as well as his ability to teach the fundamentals of football to mold a championship team.
Noll believed in building a team through the NFL draft and molding them into high caliber players. No player drafted by Noll exemplified Noll’s “whatever it takes” mantra than his first ever selection in 1969 in Mean Joe Greene. He went on to select Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw in 1970. Through Noll’s early seasons in Pittsburgh, he drafted players such as Franco Harris, Mel Blount, LC Greenwood, and Jack Ham. Noll was building a team in his own image, a team that he felt was talented enough to win.
Then in 1974 Noll brought in the greatest infusion of talent by an NFL team in history. Lynn Swan, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster. That’s four hall of famers in one draft. The best any other team has ever done in the history of the NFL was drafting two hall of famers in one class. From 1974 on, the Steelers under Chuck Noll proceeded to win four Super Bowls in 6 seasons. The Steelers are the only team to repeat as champions twice.
That is the tradition that Chuck Noll brought to Pittsburgh. He taught a losing franchise how to win. He drafted nine Hall of Famers, five of whom came from a small school or historically black colleges. The entire Steel Curtain defensive line came from small schools. Not many teams scouted small schools as effectively as the Steelers. That’s why there was no better evaluator of talent than Chuck Noll.
His tradition and legacy lives on today. Current Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin always says “the standard is the standard”. Well what is the standard? The standard is simply doing whatever it takes to win. That standard was crafted from the moment the emperor walked into Pittsburgh.
Younger Steelers fans should consider themselves lucky that a coach of his caliber built this team from futility to the powerhouse that we proudly root for today.
Rest in peace Chuck Noll. The NFL will never forget what you contributed to the game.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @KBMiller87. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter –@LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For more on sports injuries, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Football fans…check out our two partnered NFL podcasts – Thursday Night Tailgate Radio and Overtime Ireland. Both shows bring you interesting commentary, critical analysis and fantastic guests including former and current NFL players, coaches and personalities.
Main Photo:
