Chuck Noll
Noll in 1954
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| No. 65 | |
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| Position: | Guard & linebacker |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth: | January 5, 1932 |
| Place of birth: | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Date of death: | June 13, 2014 (aged 82) |
| Place of death: | Sewickley, Pennsylvania |
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Cleveland (OH) Benedictine |
| College: | Dayton |
| NFL Draft: | 1953 / Round: 20 / Pick: 239 |
| Career history | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season: | 193–148–1 (.566) |
| Postseason: | 16–8 (.667) |
| Career: | 209–156–1 (.572) |
| Player stats at PFR | |
| Coaching stats at PFR | |
Charles Henry "Chuck" Noll (January 5, 1932 – June 13, 2014) was a professional American football player, assistant coach and head coach. His sole head coaching position was for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1991. When Noll retired after 23 years, only three other head coaches in NFL history had longer tenures with one team.
After a six-year playing career that included two NFL Championships as a member of his hometown Cleveland Browns, and several years as an assistant coach with various teams, in 1969 Noll took the helm of the then moribund Steelers (which had played in only one post-season game in its previous 36 years, a 21–0 loss), and turned it into a perennial contender. As a head coach, Noll won four Super Bowls, four AFC titles, and nine Central Division championships, compiled a 209–156–1 overall record, a 16–8 post-season record, and had winning records in 15 of his final 20 seasons. His four Super Bowl victories rank 2nd behind Bill Belichick for the most of any head coach in NFL history.
Between his playing and head coaching tenures, Noll won a total of six NFL Championships, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility.
Noll built the team through astute drafting and meticulous tutoring. During his career, he was notable for the opportunities he gave African Americans, starting the first African American quarterback and having the first black assistant coach. He was frequently credited with maintaining the morale of the Western Pennsylvania region despite a steep economic decline by fashioning a team of champions in the image of its blue collar fan base.
Noll was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the youngest of three siblings (by eight years) of William Noll (a butcher, frequently unable to work owing to Parkinson's disease) and Katherine Steigerwald Noll (who worked for a florist). The family lived in the house Noll's mother grew up in with her twelve siblings, near East 74th Street, in a neighborhood with a large African-American population, a fact that helps account for Noll's early championing of opportunity for African Americans in the NFL (both players from traditionally black colleges and later as coaches). On a local youth football team Noll played with Harold Owens, the nephew of Olympic star Jesse Owens.
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