Chuck Knox
Charles Robert Knox (April 27, 1932 – May 12, 2018) was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels.
He served as head coach of three National Football League (NFL) teams, the Los Angeles Rams (1973–1977; 1992–1994), Buffalo Bills (1978–1982), and Seattle Seahawks (1983–1991).
"[1][2][3][4][5] The son of a steel worker who had emigrated from Ireland and a Scottish-born mother, Knox developed into a 190-pound (86 kg) tackle at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, playing on both sides of the ball and serving as co-captain of the 1953 unit, the first undefeated team in school history.
[9][10][11] Building on his success, Knox then moved back to the colleges, serving two seasons as an assistant under Paul Amen at Wake Forest University in 1959.
[3][9][12] Knox then moved to the Detroit Lions on February 13, 1967, under new head coach Joe Schmidt, spending six seasons in the Motor City.
[3] Sometimes referred to as "Ground Chuck" for his team's emphasis on its rushing attack, Knox used a comeback year by veteran quarterback John Hadl to lead the Rams to a 12–2 record during his first season, winning the NFC West title.
[3][5][12] John Hadl became the 1973 NFC Most Valuable Player under Knox, proof that the passing dimension of his offense was as significant as the run game in his system.
Knox later related his experience with coaching Harris decades later: “He was the NFL’s first black regular quarterback, which didn’t mean a thing to me.
In the team's rainy first round home playoff game against the Vikings on December 26, 1977, quarterback Pat Haden was having problems handling the wet ball and the Rams lost in what was subsequently called the "Mud Bowl" by a score of 14–7.
In five seasons as the Rams head coach the team had won five straight NFC West titles with five different starting quarterbacks (John Hadl, Ron Jaworski, Pat Haden, James Harris, and Joe Namath) and had a regular season record of 54–15–1 but a play-off record of only 3–5.
Suddenly taken out of the roster, Smerlas decided to study the tapes of Curley Culp to work on his footwork and hands for a two-gap technique as a nose tackle.
The efforts of defensive pros such as nose tackle Fred Smerlas and linebackers Shane Nelson and Jim Haslett led to the group being called the "Bermuda Triangle".
The strike-shortened 1982 season (where the teams went on strike after being 2-0 with their win on September 16 prior to their return in late November) would see only nine games played.
On January 25, 1983, Knox, with a year remaining on his contract, resigned after negotiations with team owner Ralph Wilson broke down.
[17] During his first year in the Northwest, Knox led the team to its first playoff berth on the feet of Warner, who ran for 1,449 yards and 13 touchdowns.
However, Seattle's playoff run ended in the AFC Championship game when the Seahawks fell to the Los Angeles Raiders by a score of 30–14.
[18] Looking to recapture the magic of two decades earlier, Knox returned to the Rams as head coach on January 8, 1992 on a four-year contract.
In 2005, Knox donated $1 million to his alma mater, Juniata College, to endow a chair in history, his major at the school.
Quaker Valley High School in Knox's hometown of Sewickley, Pennsylvania also named its football stadium in his honor.
The Times also noted that Knox left football before coaches were paid the large sum of salaries common today and reporters asked whether he was donating away a substantial amount of his retirement fund.
