RIP Chuck Noll

[outofplace]

Good piece.
I think Noll was a lot smarter than folks gave him credit for, with an interesting mind.
He was into a lot of different things.

Maybe this is just from growing up in Pittsburgh, but I always remember him getting a great deal of respect for his intelligence. Very bright guy but also a tough SOB. I heard and read stories about him being a tough guy as a player and I think he felt he had to keep that image as a coach. I had the good fortune to participate in a group interview he gave not long after he retired and it was clear he had mellowed considerably.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Well, I mean look at his coaching peers from the 1970s.
Landry was practically deified despite winning less than Noll and being beaten by his teams. Hailed as innovator and skilled tactician.
Madden is more famous than Noll was, for obvious reasons.
Shula is considered on the short list of the greatest coaches of all time.
Nobody was really throwing around genius dust in association with Noll, as numerous lesser coaches have gotten.

 

[outofplace]

Well, I mean look at his coaching peers from the 1970s.
Landry was practically deified despite winning less than Noll and being beaten by his teams. Hailed as innovator and skilled tactician.
Madden is more famous than Noll was, for obvious reasons.
Shula is considered on the short list of the greatest coaches of all time.
Nobody was really throwing around genius dust in association with Noll, as numerous lesser coaches have gotten.

I see your point. I think he does get lost a bit, partially because there were so many Hall of Famers on those teams. Of course, he played a big role in drafting and developing those players.

From everything I've heard or read about Noll and my own observations, I don't think he would have cared at all that people underestimate him as long as they respected his teams.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

He hasn't even been properly recognized for advances made by black players under his watch.
Joe Gilliam should be the subject of A Football Life.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Ed Boucehtte weighs in on Noll and his treatment/dealings with the media.



http://sportsblogs.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers-steelers-blog/2014/06/14/Memories-of-Chuck-Noll.html

 

[outofplace]

Ed Boucehtte weighs in on Noll and his treatment/dealings with the media.

http://sportsblogs.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers-steelers-blog/2014/06/14/Memories-of-Chuck-Noll.html

Thanks for that. I'd been meaning to look through the site today to see if i could find something from Bouchette.

 

[outofplace]

He hasn't even been properly recognized for advances made by black players under his watch.
Joe Gilliam should be the subject of A Football Life.

I can't imagine Noll letting something like the color of a player's skin get in the way of giving his team its best chance to win. Gilliam scuttled his own career by refusing to listen to Noll on the field and doing drugs off it.

 

[Mark2010]

Well, I mean look at his coaching peers from the 1970s.
Landry was practically deified despite winning less than Noll and being beaten by his teams. Hailed as innovator and skilled tactician.
Madden is more famous than Noll was, for obvious reasons.
Shula is considered on the short list of the greatest coaches of all time.
Nobody was really throwing around genius dust in association with Noll, as numerous lesser coaches have gotten.

In that way, perhaps having so many HOF players on the roster worked against him, sort of the old "well, anybody could win with that team" line.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

The Glanville-Pardee era Oilers had three Hall of Famers and nobody expected much out of them.
Scott Ferrall was complaining last night that Chuck Noll's death did not exact the same outpouring of affection as Gwynn's.
Aside from its inappropriateness, I don't agree with this- Noll died on a Friday at the end of the news cycle. But he was also not a cuddly laughing bear of a man.
His legacy is more complicated than it needs to be.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

The Glanville-Pardee era Oilers had three Hall of Famers and nobody expected much out of them.
Scott Ferrall was complaining last night that Chuck Noll's death did not exact the same outpouring of affection as Gwynn's.
Aside from its inappropriateness, I don't agree with this- Noll died on a Friday at the end of the news cycle. But he was also not a cuddly laughing bear of a man.
His legacy is more complicated than it needs to be.

You're supposed to die when you're Chuck Noll's age. You're not supposed to die when you're Tony Gwynn's.

 

[outofplace]

The Glanville-Pardee era Oilers had three Hall of Famers and nobody expected much out of them.
Scott Ferrall was complaining last night that Chuck Noll's death did not exact the same outpouring of affection as Gwynn's.
Aside from its inappropriateness, I don't agree with this- Noll died on a Friday at the end of the news cycle. But he was also not a cuddly laughing bear of a man.
His legacy is more complicated than it needs to be.

As BYM put it, the age is a big part of the difference between the two, but not the only one that might have created a stronger response to Gwynn's death.

Noll retired after the 1991 season and he has been out of the public eye for a long time. Most people who cared had heard that he was in poor health for years.

Gwynn had not retreated from public life and he retired 10 years after Noll, so there are more people around who remember when he was active.

I can't remember if it was Gene Collier or Ed Bouchette, but one of them made the point that Noll wouldn't have wanted much fuss at all. I think that was correct. Maybe Gwynn's passing did draw a stronger response for a number of reasons, but I doubt Noll would have cared.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Ferrall trotted out the well-worn SportsJournalists.com trope that Gwynn didn't win championships; Noll did.
Then proceeded to talk about soccer for the next 20 minutes, which is an insult to both of them.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

There's a reason Scott Ferrall is on when most people are asleep.

 

[Mark2010]

The Glanville-Pardee era Oilers had three Hall of Famers and nobody expected much out of them.
Scott Ferrall was complaining last night that Chuck Noll's death did not exact the same outpouring of affection as Gwynn's.
Aside from its inappropriateness, I don't agree with this- Noll died on a Friday at the end of the news cycle. But he was also not a cuddly laughing bear of a man.
His legacy is more complicated than it needs to be.

You're supposed to die when you're Chuck Noll's age. You're not supposed to die when you're Tony Gwynn's.

Good point. Noll's death --- and life --- have gotten plenty of fanfare.

 

[BenPoquette]

What was Noll like on the practice field?

Never saw much about his coaching style. But he didn't strike me as a screamer.

Or was he?

What I always found amazing about how Noll coached was that he made damn sure his team leaders held the rest of the team accountable. He wasn't really a screamer because he didn't have to be one.

 

[Sea Bass]

Only four-time Super Bowl-winning coach. That says it all.

RIP, Chuck.

I would argue the Steeler dynasty of the 70s was the best ever, certainly in the modern (post WWII) era.

The team that won Super Bowl XIV (1979 season) had no players that had ever played for another team. All of them had been drafted by the Steelers, and knew no other way of professional football than the Noll way.
I think it's safe to say we'll never, ever see that again.

Now THAT's a pretty amazing stat.

Another stat I like about the Steelers...from the year Noll was hired to the year Cowher retired, the Steelers had more stadiums than coaches.

 

[outofplace]

Only four-time Super Bowl-winning coach. That says it all.

RIP, Chuck.

I would argue the Steeler dynasty of the 70s was the best ever, certainly in the modern (post WWII) era.

The team that won Super Bowl XIV (1979 season) had no players that had ever played for another team. All of them had been drafted by the Steelers, and knew no other way of professional football than the Noll way.
I think it's safe to say we'll never, ever see that again.

Now THAT's a pretty amazing stat.

Another stat I like about the Steelers...from the year Noll was hired to the year Cowher retired, the Steelers had more stadiums than coaches.

Good call. I had forgotten that Noll was hired before they moved into Three Rivers Stadium.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Bradshaw has some apologies to make.

Per PFT: Despite having a strained relationship with Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Noll, Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw has said flattering things about the man who died last Friday at 82.
But Bradshaw didn’t back up his words with actions, reportedly.
According to 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, Bradshaw failed to attend Noll’s viewing on Sunday and Monday or his funeral on Tuesday, even though Bradshaw was in the Pittsburgh area Saturday night to do his one-man show, America’s Favorite Dumb Blonde.
Former Steelers P.R. executive Joe Gordon told 93.7 The Fan that Bradshaw also made no contact with Noll’s widow, Marianne.
“He’s the most insincere person I’ve ever known,” Gordon told 93.7 The Fan in a quote that Gordon specifically asked Joe Starkey of 93.7 The Fan to use.
While it’s unclear how many fans have been alienated by Bradshaw’s perceived failure to show respect to his head coach, Starkey and co-host Chris Mueller had some strong comments about Bradshaw on the air. It’s unclear from the link or the whether 93.7 The Fan attempted to reach Bradshaw or his primary employer, FOX, for a comment.

I think this will hinder a lot of the goodwill he had rebuilt in Pittsburgh.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

I don't know why this burns people up.
Viewings are not everybody's thing. They're quite macabre, frankly.
And maybe Bradshaw was waiting until this hectic period had passed before reaching out.

 

[outofplace]

I don't know why this burns people up.
Viewings are not everybody's thing. They're quite macabre, frankly.
And maybe Bradshaw was waiting until this hectic period had passed before reaching out.

Or maybe he just didn't like Noll. He said nice things when he was asked, but why does he have to do more? Strained is a good description of their relationship during Bradshaw's career. From everything I've heard and read, Noll did not handle Bradshaw well during his first few seasons. He didn't really commit to Bradshaw until later in the 1974 season.

I get the point Gordon is making and I can certainly understand somebody saying Bradshaw is full of ****, but what is the point of calling him insincere in this instance? What was Bradshaw supposed to do? Refuse to comment on Noll's passing? Say bad things about him?