Building
the Steelers into a winner wasn't easy, to be sure, but Noll and Rooney
pulled it off. They missed out on the Super Bowl in 1977 when they
might have had the best team in the NFL, but injuries to Franco Harris
and Rocky Bleier in the play-offs cost Pittsburgh a crack at a third
straight title. Then came the 1977/78 season with its holdouts, desertions,
and injuries.
Pittsburgh finished with a 9-5 record, but rebounded to win the last
two Super Bowls. Pittsburgh is capable of winning a fifth title this
year, but it's the long range prospects Rooney is looking at. "Chuck
and I haven't been through what will be the true test, " Dan Rooney
said.
"
Right now, everything is great and everyone is happy, but what happens
if we slip for three or four years? I'm not saying it's going to happen
soon, but it will happen. That's when people, including coaches and
players, will start looking at each other for answers. There will
be problems, big problems, and how Chuck and I handle them will be
the final test.
"That's
why I admire the Dallas Organisation so much. They've been through
it all and Tom Landry has remained the coach. The Dallas ownership
didn't let the outside talk influence them. They stuck with what they
were doing, and got resuIts. That's what mean by not having been tested
yet, and I hope we aren't for a while. "
Rooney
doesn't have to worry about Noll standing up to the test. The Steelers'
head coach has a handle on the team's fortunes, and he isn't about
to let go... not yet. "No, it doesn't seem like 11 years," Noll said
when asked about his seasons in Pittsburgh. "Time flies when you're
having fun. "
When
the Steelers' string is finally played out, football historians will
talk about how great Bradshaw, Swann, Joe Greene, Harris, Bleier,
and Mike Webster were. And they will also have to talk about the winning
team behind the winning team - Dan Rooney and Chuck Noll.
"There
are a lot of owners as well as coaches who let their emotions get
in the way of what has to be done,'' Rooney said. "I'd be Iying if
I said I never wondered why we do certain things, but I never question
Chuck about it. Oh, we might talk about certain situations or plays
in general conversation, but that's about it. Chuck's the head coach.
He's paid to make the decisions, and he's done a pretty good job so
far. So who am I to question anything he does?"
That doesn't mean there's a wall between Noll and Rooney on football
matters. Rooney knows his stuff about the game, having started out
as a water boy at training camp many moons ago. Whenever there's a
question about a new rule or a change in rules, Noll lets Rooney know
where he stands.
Chuck
will take me in and show me films and explain his point of view, and
why he thinks the new rule is good or bad. His view is usually the
one we take as a team when asked about the rule by the league office,"
Rooney explained.
"I
think Chuck would be a perfect guy to be on the league's Competition
Committee because of his knowledge of the game and his flexibility.
He's not against change, but he doesn't want to change the game just
because some survey says defensive backs have been beating up on wide
receivers."
That's
one of the Noll traits few people know about. He is able to go along
with NFL changes he doesn't care for, and still produce a Super Bowl
champion. The Steelers won their first NFL title on the strength of
a stonewall defense combined with a ball-control offense. But when
the rules were changed to favour the passing attack, Noll complied.
And as a result, quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw the ball all over
the lot to Lynn Swann and John Stallworth in Super Bowls XIII and
XIV.
Steelers
today have the most feared passing offense in the game. Another reason
Rooney and Neil get along is that they both prefer being in the background.
They would rather see the players get the praise, the endorsements,
and the glory, than get it themselves.
But
that doesn't mean Rooney is unavailable for comment during the season.
He goes out and watches practice as often as he can, and has a good
relationship with the players. Like his father, Art Rooney, Sr., Dan
Rooney is just common folk.
He
often wears a grey suit and blends into the background. In fact, during
summer training camp it's not unusual to see Dan Rooney watching practice
in a white Steelers shirt, a pair of black slacks, and tennis shoes.
"The thing I like best about Dan is that he's just a good person,
as are all the Rooneys," Noll said. "He's just what he is, nothing
else. That's the way I think people should be."
It's
funny Noll should make a statement like that, because it's almost
the same thing Dan Rooney said about the Steelers' head coach, and
at the time they were about 1,000 miles apart. "One of the things
I liked about Chuck from the beginning was that his whole family was
so down to earth," Rooney said. "I remember telling my dad at the
time that we'd have a hard time finding anybody better qualified for
what we wanted to do."
What
the Rooneys wanted to do, besides build a winner, was find someone
who would fit in well in Pittsburgh. They realised that the Steel
City isn't like any other sports town. That's why they were looking
for a coach the fans could relate to, and they found him in Noll.
"His
relationship to Pittsburgh is just fantastic. He fits in just like
he was born here," Rooney said with a smile. "Chuck has always said
that the city of Pittsburgh is so good, it's one of the best kept
secrets in the country. "
For
starters we needed a coach who could fit in with my father, and for
some men that wouldn't have been easy. But Chuck and my dad get along
great, partly because Chuck doesn't want the limelight. That's worked
out great, because the spotlight always seems to find my dad. But
the biggest thing is, Chuck is no phony. He is what he is, and he
isn't about to change.
The
people of Pittsburgh can appreciate that, because they're from the
same mold. "I don't think Steelers fans are about to change. I think
they are still the same as they were when we were losing, only now
there are more of them."
When
Rooney says Chuck Noll isn't about to change, he means it. That's
the way the Steelers' head coach is. Some people say Noll is just
stubborn, but it's hard to find fault with his methods. Noll is unique
in the world of professional football. He hasn't let success go to
his head. He could be making a bundle in advertising, but to date
he's only done one ad, and that was because a friend asked him to
pose for a billboard poster for a Pittsburgh bank.
Noll
says he has never made a decision based on money, and that's probably
true. "Chuck is a man of principles, and he believes in those principles,"
Rooney said. "He has tremendous character." "I guess you could say
I'm a private person in a public job," Noll said. "But I enjoy my
privacy. I realise some people don't understand that sometimes, but
that's the way I am. I'm not the kind of person who likes or needs
attention."
That's
part of the reason Noll doesn't get the credit he deserves. Few football
fans know that Chuck Noll is the 14th NFL coach to win 100 regular
season games. Or that his overall record of 114-61-1 (.654) has him
in 12th place on the coach's list, just nine victories out of tenth
place. And should the Steelers win the Super Bowl this year, he would
become only the third coach to win three straight league championships.
Curly Lambeau (192931) and Vince Lombardi (196568) are the other two.
When
Noll took over, Pittsburgh had had only four winning seasons in 19
years, and had won only 18 games in the previous five seasons. Noll
committed the Steelers to building through the draft, and last season
every player on the Steelers' roster was a home-grown product - either
selected in the draft or signed as a free agent. No other team in
the NFL can make the same claim, and still the Steelers won the Super
Bowl.
"We
just work well together, and we both have our areas, "the Steelers'
head coach added. " I don't have to get involved with any of the contract
negotiations, and that's the way we both wanted it."
