A piece of Pittsburgh history
vanished when “The Emperor Chaz” Chuck Noll died in his sleep on Friday night,
June 12, 2014. Known for his great
coaching skills and turning a losing team into a winning team in the span of a
few short years, I think Chuck Noll was so much more than a coach.
This past weekend, I watched television
interviews and read many complimentary articles about Coach Noll. As a young person in the 70’s, I remember
what he did for the Steeler football team, which impacted the entire city of
Pittsburgh. The success of the Steelers
made every Pittsburgher feel successful.
We became proud of our city again as we Pittsburghers were thrust into the
national spotlight, even if Coach Noll shunned the spotlight for himself. In reflecting upon all of the media coverage
of his passing and my own recollections, I have come to the conclusion that
Chuck Noll was not “just” a coach; he was a teacher. In my opinion, he was a really great teacher. Chuck Noll was a man who believed in his
players, and made them believe in themselves, as individuals and as a team. He set his expectations' bar extremely high. Just like any great teacher, he knew that whether
he set his expectations high or low, his players would rise to meet them.
Coach Noll also taught the
importance of being well prepared. One
of my favorite quotes from Coach Noll is "Pressure is something you feel when you don't know what you're
doing." His team was so
prepared that there was no need to feel pressure or panic. Another great quote from him which
illustrates the importance of preparedness is this one: “Leaving
the game plan is a sign of panic, and panic is not in our game plan.” He was truly a man with a vision; his
vision became the shared vision of the entire team; success followed. This quote from former linebacker Hall of
Famer Jack Ham sums it up. "He was the glue. He was the guy that got all of us to buy into
how to win a championship. He took the lead. Preparation. He always felt you
don't win games on Sunday at 1 p.m., you win games in your preparation on
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at practice. I think we all bought into that." Yes, Chuck Noll was a great teacher.
As a teacher, I also loved the way Coach Noll taught and made
the team practice the concept of true teamwork, a concept easily translated to
every classroom in the country. Sharing
responsibilities and working together in the classroom or on a team are key
elements for being successful in life. Here is Coach Noll’s opinion of
teamwork: “I can’t tell you how much you
gain, how much progress you can make, by working together as a team, by helping
one another. You get much more done that
way. If there’s anything the Steelers of
the ‘70s epitomized, I think it was that teamwork.” When I think about the most successful
classes I taught during my long tenure, I know that the classes in which the
students worked together were the best for everyone, both students and me.
Finally, Chuck Noll was a wonderful teacher not just because
he taught preparation and teamwork, but he knew that the life of a football player
was short-lived at best, so he taught players how to move from football to “their
life’s work”. Coach Noll did not just
teach in the present tense, he prepared his students for the future. When you think of the big names from his
teams, the men have moved on, contributing positively to society, becoming
successful businessmen, and being involved with charity work, serving
others. Perhaps this was his greatest
success as a teacher: to be able to
influence the lives of others in a positive manner, helping them to become
better people. I feel sure that Coach was proud of his boys.
I am not a big football fan, but I am a huge Chuck Noll
fan. I admire and respect his
accomplishments as a coach, but I revere him for his teachings. Chuck Noll will always be remembered as a
great coach, but I will always think of him as one of the best teachers I have
ever known. His influence continues
today, just as the influence of a good teacher is a small ripple in the lives
of many, washing over the souls of students in ways they do not even realize. Goodbye, Emperor Chaz. You were the "Mr. Chips" of an era.
Rittman Publishing, LLC
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