Charles Robert Knox was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels.
30 Facts About Chuck Knox
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Chuck Knox served as head coach of three National Football League teams, the Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, and Seattle Seahawks.
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Chuck Knox was a three-time AP NFL Coach of the Year and is a member of the Seahawks Ring of Honor.
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Chuck Knox was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.
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The son of a steel worker who had emigrated from Ireland and a Scottish-born mother, Chuck Knox developed into a 190-pound tackle at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, playing on both sides of the ball and serving as co-captain of the 1953 unit, the first undefeated team in school history.
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Chuck Knox then served as an assistant at Juniata that fall.
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Chuck Knox then joined Blanton Collier's staff at the University of Kentucky in 1961, and stayed the following year under new mentor Charlie Bradshaw.
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In both these places, Chuck Knox learned the concepts of organization, discipline and a focus on fundamentals.
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Chuck Knox then moved to the Detroit Lions on February 13,1967, under new head coach Joe Schmidt, spending six seasons in the Motor City.
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However, Chuck Knox developed effectively cohesive offensive lines and developed pass-blocking techniques that are now standard in blocking fundamentals.
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When Tommy Prothro was dismissed on January 24,1973, Chuck Knox was hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams.
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Chuck Knox earned NFC Coach of the Year honors, but in the first round of the playoffs, the team lost to the Cowboys, beginning what would become a frustrating string of playoff defeats for Chuck Knox.
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Six games into the 1974 season, Chuck Knox traded Hadl, whose performance had diminished from his MVP 1973 season, to the Green Bay Packers for an unprecedented two first round picks, two second round picks and a third-round pick.
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Chuck Knox started James Harris for the remainder of the 1974 season.
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Under pressure from owner Carroll Rosenbloom and general manager Don Klosterman, Chuck Knox was forced to bench Harris in favor of Pat Haden when Harris had a knee injury in the middle of the 1976 season.
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Chuck Knox stepped down as Rams' head coach after the game.
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On January 11,1978, Chuck Knox left the Rams to sign a $1.2 million, six-year contract with the Buffalo Bills.
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The Bills had won just five of their last 28 games when Chuck Knox arrived in 1978.
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Two months after Knox arrived, the team traded the aging legend O J Simpson for five draft picks.
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Chuck Knox would try to play through it the rest of the season.
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Chuck Knox was replaced as head coach by his assistant Kay Stephenson.
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On January 26,1983, Chuck Knox was hired to coach the Seattle Seahawks.
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Chuck Knox immediately went to work on trying to build a rushing attack with an ideal running back.
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Chuck Knox was fired on January 9,1995 and replaced by Rich Brooks.
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Chuck Knox had reached the postseason eleven times in 22 seasons as a head coach.
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In 2005, Chuck Knox donated $1 million to his alma mater, Juniata College, to endow a chair in history, his major at the school.
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The Times noted that Chuck Knox left football before coaches were paid the large sum of salaries common today and reporters asked whether he was donating away a substantial amount of his retirement fund.
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On September 25,2005, at age 73, Chuck Knox was inducted into the Seattle Seahawks' Ring of Honor at Qwest Field in Seattle and is regularly under consideration for nomination into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
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On May 12,2018, Chuck Knox died in Anaheim, California at the age of 86, following a lengthy battle with Lewy body dementia.
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Chuck Knox was survived by his wife of 66 years, Shirley, four children, and six grandchildren.