CHUCK KNOX: 1932-2018[
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Bill Parcells once said this of his friend Chuck Knox, who died Saturday from complications of dementia: “He’s the guy tough guys want to play for.” Knox proved it three times. He coached three teams that were struggling when he got hired: the early seventies Rams, the late seventies Bills, and mid-eighties Seahawks. He turned every one of them around.
In Knox’s first year with the Rams, in 1973, Los Angeles went 12-2, and Knox won coach of the year.
In his third year with the Bills, in 1980, Buffalo went 11-5, and Knox won coach of the year.
In his second year with the Seahawks, in 1984, Seattle went 12-4, and Knox won coach of the year.
He established a run-first, Ground Chuck style of offense, befitting a man who grew up in western Pennsylvania and spent time working in the steel mills there pre-coaching days. If you couldn’t run, Knox thought that said everything about your team. And it worked everywhere he coached, even in the post-O.J. Simpson Bills days.
Knox coached 22 NFL seasons, and his 186 regular-season wins are 10th all-time in the 98-season history of the NFL. As with Marty Schottenheimer (seventh in regular-season wins) and Dan Reeves (ninth), Knox is on the outside of the Hall of Fame looking in, though his 193 wins in all games is 10 more than Parcells, who is in the Hall, and 11 more than Tom Coughlin, who may be one day. The difference is Super Bowls: Parcells and Coughlin have two, Knox zero. But no one who played for Knox will say Super Bowls should rule his résumé. He made every team he coached tougher, and better.
