To understand how good of a coach Chuck Noll was, it is necessary to comprehend how bad the Steelers were before he arrived.

From 1933-68, an era in which they hired, fired, recycled and rehabilitated coach after coach, their winning percentage was .394 — the worst of any major pro sports team.

Noll didn't change it overnight. But the transformation he brought to the Steelers — slowly but inexorably and memorably — stands as one of the great coaching jobs in any sport at any time.

Noll, who died Friday night of natural causes at age 82, made a very bad team very good. He made a city undergoing seismic economic changes proud and confident, even as heavy industry abandoned the region. He won like no other NFL coach ever won: four Super Bowls, still a record..........


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