Legendary Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll died at his home in Sewickley Friday at the age of 82, the Pittsburgh Tribune reports. Noll was found unresponsive by his wife, who called 911. He was prounounced dead 10 minutes after paramedics arrived at the home.
Noll was coach of the Steelers from 1969-91, won four Super Bowls during his career — all in the ’70s — and he is one of the biggest reasons the Steelers became a dynasty. The team only won 13 games in the previous four seasons before he took over, and they only went 1-13 in his first year. But by his fourth year, Noll had the Steelers in the conference championship game. He won his first Super Bowl in his sixth year on the job.
Noll went 209-156-1 during his coaching career and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
He was remembered by Art Rooney Jr. as a man who “had a very, very strong moral compass.”
Though he was usually accommodating with the media, Noll did not enjoy the spotlight and turned down commercial offers that could have made him a big celebrity. He was more interested in just being a football coach.
Noll also was remembered for seeing beyond color and race. He had the first black starting quarterback in the league — Joe Gilliam. In 1975, Steelers running back Franco Harris became the first black player to win Super Bowl MVP. He also made Tony Dungy, his former player, the first black coordinator in the league.
The Steelers have become known for having long-tenured, successful coaches. Noll was succeeded by Bill Cowher, who was succeeded by Mike Tomlin. Both of those coaches carried on the tradition set forth by Noll by reaching multiple Super Bowls and winning one. The dominance and winning tradition for the Steelers really all started with Noll, who has won more Super Bowls than any other coach in NFL history.
