NOLL, Charles Henry ("Chuck")

(b. 5 January 1932 in Cleveland, Ohio), the first coach in the National Football League (NFL) to win four Super Bowls.

Noll was the son of William Noll, a butcher and occasional truck driver, and Katherine Steigerwald, a florist. Noll attended the Benedictine High School in Cleveland. Although he only played football during the final two years of high school, he earned a scholarship to the University of Dayton. Entering Dayton in 1949, he played on the offensive line of the football team. He graduated with a B.S. in education in 1953 and was taken by the Cleveland Browns in the twenty-first round of the professional football draft that year.

Cleveland coach Paul Brown used offensive linemen to carry plays to the quarterback. At six feet, one inch tall and 218 pounds, Noll was one of the messenger guards used for that purpose. When injuries created a problem on defense, he was switched to linebacker. Noll played seventy-seven games in seven years with the Browns. He was part of five Eastern Conference championships and played in two NFL title games.

It was difficult for a lineman and, in those days, for a defensive player to demonstrate his ability statistically. On defense Noll had a career total of eight interceptions for ninety-two yards and one touchdown. He had a fumble recovery for another touchdown. He also had one tackle for a safety. On two kick returns, he gained twenty-two yards.

Following his career as a player, Noll joined Coach Sid Gillman of the Los Angeles (later San Diego) Chargers of the new American Football League (AFL). During Noll's six years under Gillman, the Chargers won four Western Conference championships and two AFL titles. In 1966 Noll joined Coach Don Shula of the Baltimore Colts as defensive backs coach. In his three years with the Colts, the team lost only three games. Winning the NFL title in 1968, the Colts lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets, led by Joe Namath.

In 1969, at the age of thirty-seven, Noll took over as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Although one of the original members of the NFL, the hapless Steelers had never appeared in a league championship game. Noll won his first game as a Steeler, but the team reverted to its expected form and lost the next thirteen. They started the 1970 season with three more losses but ended with five wins and nine losses. In his third season Noll improved marginally to 6–8.

Fortunately, Noll was working for Art Rooney, Sr., an owner noted for his patience and loyalty. He endorsed Noll's strategy for bringing success to Pittsburgh, a policy that became impossible once free agency and salary caps became the norm. Noll believed that a winning team could be built through the annual player draft and that players needed to be developed slowly; his predecessors had traditionally traded away their draft picks for established players generally past their prime. In his first sixteen years as head coach of the Steelers, Noll traded for only ten players.

In his use of draft choices, Noll felt that he should take the best player available regardless of the position. At the same time, he was convinced that a successful team should be built on a solid defense. By early in the 1970s the mettle of the Steelers defensive squad earned it the nickname the "Steel Curtain." Noll depended on fast, aggressive line-backers to back the solid front line.

Despite this concentration on defense, the Steelers slowly developed an adequate offense. Some experts considered Noll out of date because he believed in allowing his quarterbacks to call their own plays. He allowed Terry Bradshaw, an early draft pick, five years to develop as a competent play caller. For the backfield Noll acquired Franco Harris of Penn State, although he was not highly ranked. The blocking back was "Rocky" Bleier, who took several years to recover from leg wounds suffered in Vietnam. In front of the runners Noll anchored his line on outstanding centers and mobile guards who could pull to lead a sweep. Lynn Swann and John Stallworth became Bradshaw's prime receivers.

Noll's patience began to pay off in 1972, when the Steelers posted a winning record of eleven wins and three losses. For the first time in their history the team won the American Football Conference (AFC) Central Division title. It was the Steelers' misfortune to lose 21—17 to the undefeated Miami Dolphins in the AFC championship game.

In 1974 the Steelers won divisional and conference titles to advance to Super Bowl IX and then, behind their outstanding defense, defeated the Minnesota Vikings 16–6. The Vikings were able to gain only seventeen yards on the ground. The following year the Steelers returned to Super Bowl X against Dallas. Pittsburgh won 21—17 in a game highlighted by the stalwart Steelers' defense and a sixty-four-yard touchdown pass from Bradshaw to an acrobatic Swann.

Between 1972 and 1984 the Steelers had thirteen winning seasons; their victory in the division championship in 1974 was the first of six consecutive Central Division titles. The Steelers returned to the top in 1978 when they edged the Dallas Cowboys 35–31 in Super Bowl XIII. After this win Noll became the first professional football coach to win three Super Bowls. Not resting on their laurels, the Steelers returned the next year, becoming the first four-time winners by drubbing the Los Angeles Rams 31–19, and Noll became the first coach to win four Super Bowls. Despite his 12—30 record in his first three years, Noll had an overall record of 209 wins, 156 losses, and 1 tie in 23 years. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

Noll and his wife, Marianne, have one son. Noll enjoys fine wine and is considered a gourmet cook. A lover of classical music, he has a regular seat at the performances of the Pittsburgh Symphony. He also enjoys literature. Out of doors, Noll is a gardener and a proficient scuba diver. When he decided to become a pilot, his confidence was such that he bought a plane before he started taking lessons.

One of Noll's outstanding linebackers, Andy Russell, described him as a "very stern, very strict" taskmaster, but one who was quite realistic about what the players could or could not do. He was a players' coach. Despite his high profile, Noll tried to keep in the background. He made only one product endorsement, feeling that these were better left to the players. Perhaps the highest compliment to Noll's philosophy as a person and a coach is that twenty-one Steelers earned four Super Bowl rings.

Material on Noll's career is in the archives of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. For more information, see David L. Porter, ed., Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: Football (1987), and Bob Carroll et al., Total Football (1997). Also see articles by Roy Blount, Jr. (24 July 1974) and Paul Zimmerman (21 July 1980) in Sports Illustrated.

Art Barbeau