Chuck Noll - Gone and Forgotten

The Rooneys have been known for their patience with coaches. I wonder how quickly some other organizations would have been to pull the plug on him when he had a couple of less than stellar years.

 

Maybe that points to some reasons he doesn't get as much credit as he deserves. He really wasn't a great innovator and the public rarely got to see his abilities as a motivator. How often do you hear of a great coach known for his teaching skills?

Also, his team's just weren't as successful those final 10 years or so as they were in the '70s. Still, he took over arguably the worst franchise in the league and helped to create one of the great dynasties in league history. Four Super Bowl championships is a tough resume to argue with, no matter how he got it done.

 

Myron Cope told the story that Noll wanted to put Bennie Cunningham into the game but kept calling him by the wrong name, something to the effect of, "Bernie! Bernie! Get in there!" and Cunningham just sat there on the bench because he had no idea Noll actually meant him.

 

He was no Bill Walsh or Don Coryell that's for sure.
While he was a great coach, not sure he was much of a motivator either (see Terry Bradshaw). I have talked to some former players and most liked Noll, it wasn't love.
Make no mistake He was a rock-solid coach, who helped build and run one of the best NFL teams to ever play. The Steelers improved from Day 1 when Noll was hired.

 

I don't know where this kind of stuff is coming from. He coached for 23 years and never had a reputation as a Casey Stengel/Sparky Anderson type eccentric. Noll wasn't some nutty professor type.

 

I was shocked to see that Noll ranks 46th in all-time regular season win pct.; and 16th in all-time playoff win pct.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/

7th overall in total wins.

But in total championships he follows only Lombardi, Lambeau, Halas and Brown.

 

I think Noll was just as innovative but his innovations were not as flashy or obvious to most.

Putting Joe Greene in a 1 technique was brilliant. He took up center and guard and freed up Lambert to roam sideline to sideline make tackles.

Of offense no one ever ran inside trap game like the Steelers. Steelers had a relatively small O line and angle blocking of trap game allowed them to neutralize bigger D lines.

 

I wouldn't necessarily agree with the lack of love for Noll from his players. He wasn't chummy with his guys and he wasn't big on praise, but listening to Green, Bleir, and some other players who played under Noll, it was one of those relationships where as time went by, the love and appreciation for what he did for them as players grew. It's just harder to see with a guy like Noll, very much so like coach Hoodie. The love tends to flow for guys like Art Rooney Sr., but it was just different.

 

I have no idea whether that

I have no idea if that tale is accurate or not. All I know is that I was in the car, laughing out loud when Cope told that story because I thought it was hilarious this great coach couldn't get the first name right of a first-round draft pick.

 

Pre-computer, what Stengel knew was amazing. Sure, he wasn't perfect, but the strategic masterstrokes he pulled out of his ass -- seemingly from nowhere -- were astonishing.

My favorite Yankee, along with Ruth. Yogi's third. The rest? Feh.

 

I wanted to add to that and you beat me to it. The inside trap was their bread and butter play for his entire tenure as coach. It was the Steeler eqivalent of the Packer's sweep.

 

Good analogy - Steeler trap = Packer Sweep.

As 3-4 D evolved it became harder to run .