NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers' four-time Super Bowl winning coach Chuck Noll dies
Saturday 14 June 2014 14:59, UK
Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll, who won a record four Super Bowl titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers, died at his home on Friday night, aged 82.
Noll turned the Steelers into one of the most high-profile teams in the NFL after guiding the franchise to four Super Bowl wins in six seasons between 1974 and 1979.
After retiring in 1991 with a record of 209-156-1 in 23 seasons as Steelers head coach, Noll was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1993.
His four Super Bowl wins remains a record for any NFL coach and his 16-8 record in postseason play remains one of the best in league history.
Noll began his coaching career as a defensive assistant with the Chargers, and also worked for the Baltimore Colts before taking charge of the Steelers in 1969.
At the time, Pittsburgh were the worst team in NFL history and Noll’s first season in charge ended miserably as the Steelers finished with a record of 1-13.
But a remarkable turnaround saw Noll’s Steelers win the Super Bowl for the very first time in 1974, before repeating the feat a year later in Super Bowl 10. Noll also guided the Steelers to back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 1978 and 1979.
Art Rooney Jr – son of Steelers founder Arthur Rooney – paid tribute to the late Noll.
"Chuck Noll is the best thing to happen to the Rooneys since they got on the boat in Ireland," he told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Noll, whose health had deteriorated in recent years due to Alzheimers disease and heart and back ailments, died of natural causes, a medical examiner said.
