Chuck Noll & the Steelers: A Dynasty is Forged

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Roger McNamara

A product of Northeastern Ohio, Chuck Noll graduated in 1949 with both academic and athletic honors by Cleveland Benedictine High School.  Despite the rigors of part time work needed to defray the $150 annual tuition, Noll earned All State recognition as a Bengal running back and offensive lineman, and stood 28th in his 252 all male graduating class.  Hopes of attending Notre Dame University were scuttled by an on practice field epileptic seizure.  Recovery was swift enough that the University of Dayton stepped in with a football scholarship, Noll responding as stellar defensive lineman and linebacker, ws elected co-captain of the Flyers.  At his 1953 graduation with a degree in secondary education, Noll was widely nicknamed “Pope” owing to his infallible grasp of the intricacies of football, a trait not lost on Steeler ownership in coming decades.

A Chuck Noll “homecoming party” was celebrated with his 20th round 1953 draft selection by the Cleveland Browns, in those years perennial NFL contenders and league champions.  A skilled addition to Paul Brown’s offensive line, he was used as a “messenger” --- alternating snaps with a teammate in bringing in plays called by the coaching staff.  He didn’t like the role, and elected to cut the cord on his playing days following the 1959 Season.  A Hall of Fame coaching career lay next in wait.     

So highly thought of were Noll’s instincts for the game that his coaching career began with an immediate step into the professional ranks.  A six year stint under Sid Gillman of the Los Angeles Chargers in what at the time was a separate and independent American Football League honed Noll’s skills as coach first of the defensive line, then onto defensive backs, advancing in stride to defensive coordinator.  The Chargers were regular playoff inhabitants in these years, always among the league leaders in defense, and it was here that its more dominant players went public with expressed admiration both for Noll’s teaching skills and his tact in dealing with individual personality traits.   There followed a one year tutorial as defensive coordinator under Don Shula and the 1968 NFL Champion Baltimore Colts. 

It goes without saying that with Noll calling the defensive signals this team tied a regular season NFL record for fewest points allowed per game.  While reluctant to see him depart, Shula accorded Noll the highest recommendation upon learning that the Rooney family was in search of a new head coach.       

A New Dynasty Gets Underway.   Legendary Penn State sideline master Joe Paterno having declined a Rooney offer, Steeler ownership turned to Chuck Noll, who on January 27, 1969 was named the 14th Head Coach in franchise history.  His initiation to pro ranks was mostly downhill, inheriting as he did a weak roster assembled in prior years, a team which stumbled and fumbled its way to a 1-13 Season, as might be expected finishing in or near the league cellar in all familiar offensive and defensive measures.  Yet it was time productively spent, with Noll sharpening his skills as a teacher of fundamentals.  He steered linebacker Andy Rooney --- one of the few on this squad retained for the future --- to vastly improved play through refinement of a three point stance.  And as Noll was also placed in charge of Steeler participation in the annual NFL draft of collegiate talent, he kept well abreast of the pending crop.  Allegheny County, long home to several metal forging companies, now stood at a threshold marked Forging a Football dynasty.       

Bricks And Mortar.    Like a Greco-Roman colossus of Centuries past, Noll undertook construction one block at a time, carefully and meticulously assembled.  Inspired draft selections were gathered in, players who would emerge as perennial All-Pro selections, League MVP award Winners, Hall of Fame inductees: 

• 1969:  Joe Green 4th overall, Defensive Tackle, out of North Texas State 
• 1970:  Terry Bradshaw, 1st overall, Quarterback, out of Louisiana Tech
• 1972:  Franco Harris, 13th overall, Running Back, out of Penn State

Then in the 1974 draft Noll hit a jackpot not reached before or since.  Taken by the Steelers that year were:   Wide Receivers Lynn Swan and John Stallworth, products of USC and Alabama A&M, respectively; Jack Lambert, Middle Linebacker out of Kent State University;  Mike Webster, Center out of the University of Wisconsin.  The commonality among this quarter is that --- like Green, Bradshaw and Harris --- each became an eventual Hall of Famer.  Stalwarts such as Linebacker Jack Ham out of Penn State and Defensive Back Mel Blount out of Southern University A&M were added to the mix, which when blended with the outstanding coaching efforts of Noll and Staff, triggered a massive reversal in team fortunes.  Successive regular season records --- beginning 1970 the two leagues merged into a single NFL, Pittsburgh joining Cincinnati, Cleveland and Houston in the American Central Conference ---  were compiled as: