Guided his teams to seven division titles and 11 playoff appearances, and had ties to Stark County beyond just coaching several Pro Football Hall of Famers during a pro career spanning from 1963 to 1994.
Chuck Knox, the former NFL coach who took the Los Angeles Rams to three straight NFC championship games and also enjoyed success with the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills, has died. He was 86.
The Rams and Seahawks said Sunday that Knox died Saturday night.
"He established a winning culture and a legacy that will never be forgotten, being the only coach to lead the Rams to five consecutive double-digit-win seasons," the Rams said in a statement. "The memories and accomplishments that Coach Knox left behind will continue to inspire us and Rams fans. We hold his family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time."
Called "Ground Chuck," for his run-first offenses, Knox was the NFL coach of the year in 1973, 1980 and 1984, winning the award with all three teams he coached. He went 186-147-1 during 22 seasons as an NFL head coach, including two stints with the Rams. He won five straight NFC West titles from 1973-77, and he returned in 1992 for the franchise's final three seasons in Los Angeles before its move to St. Louis. His teams, though, never reached a Super Bowl despite winning seven division titles and reaching the playoffs 11 times, and Knox is often named among the best coaches to never play for a ring.
He earned a reputation for sayings his players fondly termed “Knoxisms.” They were as straight-forward as the style of play he preferred, such as, “Play the hand you’re dealt” and “Football players make football plays.”
Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Jack Youngblood posted a picture on Twitter thanking Knox for his trust and "allowing us to make our way to Canton."
"Chuck Knox was one of the most influential men in the early days of my career," Youngblood wrote. "Great coach and an even better man."
Knox had ties himself to Canton beyond coaching Hall of Famers such as Youngblood, Tom Mack, Steve Largent, Kenny Easley and Jerome Bettis.
Knox's brother, Bill, lived most of his adult life in Canton, starting his coaching career at Central Catholic, then spending eight seasons as an assistant football coach at Glenwood High and later as an assistant under John Brideweser at McKinley from 1970-75. Knox often visited Bill in Canton and would speak at the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club. Bill Knox died in 1999.
Chuck Knox left the Rams in 1978 for the Buffalo Bills. After five seasons, he took over the Seahawks in 1983 and immediately led the franchise to its first playoff berth and the AFC title game. He spent nine seasons with Seattle.
"His presence projected an external toughness, but merited instantaneous respect by the genuine care and concern he held for his players," the Seahawks said in a statement.
Knox is the only coach to be enshrined in the Seahawks "Ring of Honor." He was revered in Seattle for turning the young franchise into a contender in the AFC West for most of his tenure.
Current Seattle coach Pete Carroll tweeted Sunday that Knox was, "A true Seahawks legend and a man who had a great impact on so many."
Knox was named as the second permanent head coach in Seahawks history in February 1983. Knox was available after resigning as coach of the Bills — a team he had revived and led to two playoff berths in his last three years — following a contract dispute.
He quickly transformed a Seattle franchise that had not had a winning season since 1979 and had gone 14-25 in the previous three seasons into a perennial playoff contender that lit up the Kingdome throughout the 1980s. The Seahawks retired the No. 12 in 1984 as an homage to the decibel-record-setting crowds that greeted them every week.
In Knox’s first major move as coach, the Seahawks moved up to the third overall selection in the 1983 NFL draft and took running back Curt Warner out of Penn State. Warner won Rookie of the Year honors and teamed with Largent, a record-setting receiver, and a defense led by Easley at safety to lead Seattle to a 9-7 record and wild-card playoff berth in 1983.
Seattle then beat Denver in the wild-card round to set up what many consider the biggest upset in Seahawks history — a 27-20 win at Miami in the divisional round against a Dolphins team led by Dan Marino that had gone 12-4 and was an eight-point favorite.
The game served as the template for the Knox era as the Seahawks forced five turnovers and rushed for 151 yards in holding the ball for 34 minutes and 58 seconds.
The Seahawks lost 30-14 to Oakland in the AFC title game a week later, but the two playoff wins set the stage for a run of four playoff appearances in five years.
Knox, though, was a far less conservative and far more adaptable coach than his “Ground Chuck” nickname might have indicated, as became evident during his second season in Seattle in 1984.
A season that began with high expectations opened with a thud, as Warner suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game.
With Warner out and the running game largely non-existent, Knox instead turned quarterback Dave Krieg and Largent loose and Krieg responded with 32 touchdown passes — a team record until Russell Wilson broke it in 2015 — and Seattle went 12-4 despite no running back gaining more than the 327 yards by David Hughes. The 12 wins remain tied as the second-best in team history.
An aggressive defense led by Easley also forced 63 turnovers, which remains second-most in NFL history for one season and is nine more than any team in Seahawks history.
Knox was born April 27, 1932 in Sewickley, Pa., initially thinking he was destined to a life working in the local mills until a coach at Juanita College in Pennsylvania convinced him to return to school and the football team after he had left early in his freshman season.
“I knew I could make a good living working in the mills,” Knox told then-Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelley in 2005. “I decided I didn’t want to fuss with the rest of it, so I hitch-hiked back home.”
But a few days later he returned to school and football, and he never looked back.
Knox was a two-way tackle at Juniata, serving as a captain on the school's undefeated 1953 team. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Juniata. He was a high school assistant at Tyrone and then head coach at Ellwood City before moving on to Wake Forest and Kentucky.
Knox entered pro football in the AFL with the New York Jets as offensive line coach in 1963, and played a key role in the recruitment of quarterback Joe Namath. He remained with the Jets until 1966, and was then offensive line coach with the Detroit Lions from 1967-1972 before being named coach of the Rams in 1973.
He was an immediate hit, leading the Rams to an NFC-best 12-2 record and a point differential of 210 that led the NFL
But foreshadowing postseason disappointments to come, the Rams were defeated in the divisional playoffs by the Cowboys. The Rams lost three times in the NFC title game in Knox’s five seasons.
The Seahawks made it to the playoffs four of his first five seasons, including winning their first division title in 1988 with a final-game win against the Raiders in Los Angeles. He finished his Seattle career with a record of 80-63, second in wins behind Mike Holmgren (86-74). Carroll is third at 79-48.
Knox returned to Los Angeles to coach the Rams for three seasons, coaching Bettis to his first two 1,000-yard seasons, but was fired following the 1994 season. He was inducted into the Seahawks’ Ring of Honor in 2005.
Knox spent much of the rest of his life in Palm Springs, Calif.