Chuck Noll Passes Head Coach Of Pittsburgh Steelers Won 4 Super Bowls.

Chuck Noll passed away at 82 years of age, and with his moving on, a big part of my pop-culture life has went with it.

Chuck Noll. Look, Chuck Noll gave me a bellyache. As an Oakland Raiders fan, his Steelers were always in the way of my Silver and Black, and that led to some of the greatest games in NFL history. Sadly, we were on the losing end of most of them.

As a Dallas Cowboys fan, or I should say, really, a Tom Landry fan, who was the Head Coach, I turned off the television set when then-Cowboys Tight End Jackie Smith dropped what looked to be a sure touchdown pass that would have put Dallas head of the Steelers in Super Bowl XIII – perhaps for good.

I learned to hate, and then love, Chuck Noll.

Chuck Noll was also the man who gave Pittsburgh its first set of winning years with the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers.

And while many will talk about his tough teams, Noll was an innovator.

Coach Noll created, with his Defensive Coordinator Bud Carson, the 4-3 Pinch, or “Stunt 4-3” Defense. The idea was to place the two defensive tackles nose up on the center and play looping games around that person.

The objective was to prevent double teaming, but it had another advantage: it caused the offensive line to constrict, and made the rush lanes to the QB shorter – the result was sacks.

The defense was the basis for the Tony Dungy “Tampa Two” when he was Head Coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts. Dungy played for Noll as free safety, and then was his player-coach.

So sorry to hear about the passing of Coach Noll. He had such a great impact on me, as well as many others. A tremendous teacher & friend. — Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) June 14, 2014

"Champions do the ordinary things better than everyone else–Everyone is needed but no one is indispensable." Great lessons from Coach Noll — Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) June 14, 2014

Chuck Noll’s Pittsburgh Steelers teams were also known for their trap plays. The Pittsburgh Steelers were said to “trap you getting off the bus.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers won 4 Super Bowls under Noll, but would not have been pushed in that direction were it not for the Oakland Raiders and their epic battles.

Chuck Noll is forever.