Before this day in 1969, the Steelers had been anything but beacon of football excellence. That began to change on this day in 1969, when the Steelers hired Chuck Noll to coach the team.
Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette takes a look back at the decision that has led to three coaches in the 50 years since Noll arrived. (As noted by Collier, the Browns have had three coaches in less than three months.)
According to Collier, Noll had interest from the then-Boston Patriots and the Buffalo Bills, but he chose the Steelers because he connected with Dan Rooney, who along with Art Rooney and Art Rooney, Jr. had met with Noll at the Roosevelt Hotel in Pittsburgh for what would be, in hindsight, one of the most important sessions in Pittsburgh sports history.
“His basic idea, the basic thought, was that my father really wanted to find somebody who could be a leader,” said current Steelers owner Art Rooney II, who at the time was the 16-year-old son of Dan Rooney. “He wanted somebody who could keep the attention of players -- just being able to keep the attention of a group of 20-somethings over the course of a season was a key thing. The bottom line is that we’ve been fortunate. We’ve had three great people who were great football coaches and happened to be available.”
Intentional or not, that “keeping the attention of 20-somethings” ability is something that the current coach may need to work on a bit. If he does, the Steelers may be able to stretch their three-coaches-in-50-years run to three in 60, 65, or longer.
