“Chuck Noll, the Hall of Fame coach who won a record four Super Bowl titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers, died Friday night at his home. He was 82,” AP reports:
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner said Noll died of natural causes.
Noll transformed the Steelers from a long-standing joke into one of the NFL’s pre-eminent powers, becoming the only coach to win four Super Bowls. He was a demanding figure who did not make close friends with his players, yet was a successful and motivating leader.
The Steelers won the four Super Bowls over six seasons (1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979), an unprecedented run that made Pittsburgh one of the NFL’s marquee franchises, one that breathed life into a struggling, blue-collar city.
”He was one of the great coaches of the game,” Steelers owner Dan Rooney once said. ”He ranks up there with (George) Halas, (Tom) Landry and (Curly) Lambeau.”
In 1974, Noll’s Steelers assembled what was arguably “The greatest draft class in NFL history,” when they added in one fell swoop, Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster. All four would become NFL Hall of Famers and household names among NFL fans, as Noll’s Steelers became the dominant team of the 1970s.
RIP, Chuck Noll.
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