Mike Collier: “We had the best preparer in the game in Chuck Noll. He was the best at making us ready to win a championship. He never got enough credit. You always hear people talking about Belichick and other guys as the greatest coaches. You rarely hear about Noll. That upsets me greatly. He was one of the greatest coaches ever in that timeframe.”
Dan Radakovich: “Noll was worse than me! He loved new ideas. Problem was, he wanted to take the new ideas and make a whole new offense out of them every time. I just wanted to make adjustments – he wanted to make everything a big deal.
I have to say, he and Paterno were some of the most open coaches so far as new ideas go – they were the best coaches to work for.
We won the Super Bowl with the tackle trap – no one ever trapped the nose tackle before.. That play took us to the Super Bowl when we used it against Oakland. We scored two touchdowns using it – the Brown 92-93.”
Bill Priatko: “Personally, I remember Chuck when he first started coaching. He was 1-13 that first season – win their first game versus Detroit then lost the next 13. I was in Irwin then and a high school Athletic Director job opened up there. I didn’t want it but people convinced me to apply. I was in the interview when the Superintendent asked me if I knew Chuck called him as a reference for the job. I said “No.” He told me Chuck Noll called. I had no idea he did that.
Well, a week later I’m at a Steelers alumni event and Chuck is there standing by himself. I went up to him and thanked him for the call. He asked if I got the job and I told him no – and I didn’t really care that much about it anyway. Well, he turned to me and said “Well, who would want the recommendation of a 1-13 coach.” I just told him that by the end of his time there his recommendation will mean more than anyone in Pittsburgh. He thought I was just being nice.”
Joe Greene: “The message from Chuck never changed. I was questioning what we were doing. He’d always say every week we needed to focus on certain things. There were certain things we had to do. For instance, eliminate turnovers. Limit first down yardage. Ensure third downs were for three yards or less on offense. Don’t let up more than 17 points on defense or you’d lose. Another one was not to allow the other team more than seven times with the ball or you’d probably lose.
As time went on we could see that when we matched those numbers we’d win. But we had no evidence those things worked until our third year when we won a few games. It was hard for me to buy-in at first. You’re working on limited information in terms of winning ball games and judging yourself on those benchmarks.”
Dwight Stone: “My first year as a Steelers I observed Coach Noll and Mrs. Noll walked out the front door of Three River Stadium after a home regular season game. The crowd of fans circle them like we just won the Super Bowl. Coach asked the huge crowd of fans to step back (in a soft voice). Coach walked his wife to the car and opened the door for her. She got in the car and he closed the door and went to the driver’s and opened his door. He started the car and turned on the A/C for his wife to be comfortable. He walked back over to the crazy but the WORLD”S BEST FANS and signed every autograph and smiled for pictures…I knew then what was expected of me as a Steelers on and off the field.”
Bill Amatucci: “Noll was my favorite Steeler. I really liked him – he was a good guy. Once my sister’s friend brought her child who was in a wheelchair. I was calling over some Steelers to see if they would take a picture with him but they wouldn’t come – I think they were afraid to get out of line. Chuck Noll saw that and came over and we took pictures of him with the boy.”
Garry Howe: “Chuck Noll was all about helping where you are needed.”
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