Players recall guidance of Steelers coach Chuck Noll on 30th anniversary of his retirement

It seems that anyone who ever played for Chuck Noll has a story about how he humiliated or confounded them. Noll was, to say the least, a puzzling character.

Yet, they all seem to have come away with a feeling of enduring admiration for the man who led the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl championships in six years during the 1970s, making Pittsburgh’s dynasty among the greatest in pro football history.

Thirty years ago, Dec. 26, 1991, Noll’s remarkable 23-year run as the Steelers coach ended when he announced his retirement.

He hadn’t told the team, according to Merril Hoge, a Steelers running back at the time. Noll told the media first, making his announcement at a news conference.

The Steelers had gone 51-60 since a 1984 AFC title game appearance, but Hoge really didn’t understand the timing of Noll’s announcement until years later.

“I remember when it was the last game at Three Rivers Stadium (Dec. 16, 2000),” Hoge said. “I was standing on the sidelines next to him and he said ‘I never would have been a good recruiter.’ It was because free agency had hit. That’s Chuck. He didn’t want to be a part of that change and that shift. He was a believer in the draft and building a team. You could see why he would feel that way.”

Even as early as 1991, Noll could see where the NFL was headed in terms of free agency and players gaining the upper hand in controlling their careers, and he didn’t like it.

There were other issues. The Rooney family, who owned the team, started to question some of his decisions, including the makeup of his coaching staff. He didn’t like that either.

“The Steelers had a bad year in 1988 (5-11), and Dan Rooney went to Chuck and said ‘I want this guy fired. I want that guy fired.’ Chuck resisted. He defended his staff,” said longtime Pittsburgh sportscaster Stan Savran, who still covers the team for the Steelers radio network.

“There was somewhat of a re-organization. As far as dealing with personnel, that was Chuck, he controlled all that. And I think that they wanted to dilute some of that power.”

The Steelers made the playoffs in 1989. By 1991, they had another losing season, and some observers felt Noll had lost his zest for the game. Even though he could have continued on as coach, he came to the conclusion that he was done. Rooney was one of the few people Noll shared his intentions with before making the announcement.

“I can’t really say his decision was a total surprise,” Rooney told the Washington Post at the time.

Looking back 30 years later, former Steelers halfback Rocky Bleier said he wasn’t surprised either.

“They questioned his decision on the coaches that he hired and Chuck felt ‘if you’re paying me to be the head coach, then don’t question my decisions.’ So, on principle, that was it. He retired.”

Noll’s coaching record was 209-156-1, but statistics don’t really tell the story.

It seems appropriate Noll resigned around Christmas because his professional life in many ways mirrored that of legendary Dickens character Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser with his affections who, in the end, had a heart of gold.

Noll, who died June 13, 2014, at age 82, even treated Bleier like Bob Cratchit, cutting him during the 1970 preseason after Bleier had begun his valiant comeback from a crippling foot injury he sustained while serving with the Army in Vietnam.

Only after Rooney, general manager at the time, intervened, was a path created for Bleier to make it as a pro football player.

Bleier never took it personally.

“You have to understand Chuck. He did what he had to do as a head coach for the betterment of the team,” Bleier said.

Even after Bleier made the team, became a starter, rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a season and was an integral part of multiple Super Bowl championships, Noll never congratulated him for achieving one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.

In fact, Noll only continued to glower at Bleier for one reason or another.

When Bleier showed up for training camp in 1973 after building up his body, Noll looked at it negatively.

“Chuck felt we were getting weak as the season goes on and people weren’t maintaining their strength so he put in a weight lifting program. I came to camp the biggest I’d ever been. I weighed 218 pounds. I bench pressed 465 pounds. I squatted over 600 pounds, and I have 18 ½ inch biceps,” Bleier said.

“Chuck says, ‘what we don’t want’ and he looks at me ‘are any body builders on this team.’ And it’s like ‘Jeez, Chuck, I busted my (butt) to get to this size.’”

NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver John Stallworth said the players could not rely on Noll for “rah-rah” type speeches.

“He felt you needed to put yourself in the right frame of mind to do well, and ‘I’m not going to be responsible for getting you there by a speech I gave at halftime or during pre-game,’” Stallworth said.

Noll didn’t hesitate to provide cut-to-the-bone criticism for players he felt could benefit from it.

Hoge, a mainstay in the Steelers backfield in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, remembers being the target of Noll’s ire.

During the 1988 season, Hoge was the “up back” — the quarterback for the punt team. During a late October game against the New York Jets, the Steelers blew a 20-7 lead after the Jets blocked a punt, and it was ruled later that Hoge fumbled a pass that he still insists he never caught. The Jets rallied to win, 24-20.

“(Noll) called me the dumbest football player he’s ever seen,” Hoge said. “In the locker room, he says ‘Hey listen, if Merril learns how to count and catch, we win this game. Get dressed.’ It couldn’t have been a lower point in my career. I remember (running backs coach) Dick Hoak came to my locker and said ‘Now, listen, he wants to see how you respond to this.’”

Hoge responded well, as Noll suspected he would, and enjoyed a productive seven-season career with the Steelers.

“I loved the man. He was just so influential in helping me as a player and a person that I owe so much to,” Hoge said. “He’d challenge you. He’d lead you, and, in his way, he’d inspire you.”

In perhaps one of the greatest understatements, Bleier said Noll just wasn’t a players’ coach.

“You were never comfortable around Chuck. He was detached, and I don’t think he ever wanted to get close to his players. Not that he didn’t feel it.”

In fact, Stallworth remembered when Noll, in a moment of weakness perhaps, actually let his guard down.

“(Hall of Fame safety) Donnie Shell and I retired together and had the same retirement ceremony at Three Rivers Stadium, and Chuck was there,” Stallworth said. “Chuck and I were standing together and we were talking without really looking at each other and he said ‘John, I feel like crying. But that wouldn’t be a good thing.’”

With star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger reportedly set to possibly call it a career at the end of the current Steelers season, some might be inclined to see it as the end of an era in the same way that Noll’s retirement was.

Hoge said he sees some similarities.

“From the significant impact, yes, there is no player in Steeler history that’s probably had as long lasting of an impact as (Roethlisberger) has had on the Steeler organization,” he said. “I would hope they’re going to find their quarterback that’s going to be like (Noll’s successor) Bill Cowher.

“But it may be a long time before (the Steelers) find that Bill Cowher quarterback. Can you find a guy who can play at the level you need to win a championship in this league? That’s a big hurdle.”