National Football League

Remembering legendary Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll

Published Jun. 14, 2014 10:26 a.m. ET

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Chuck Noll was much more than the man behind the Steel Curtain. The coach, who died Friday in Pennsylvania at 82, was an integral component in turning a struggling franchise into a Super Bowl dynasty.

The football world reacted as such in remembering and appreciating the four-time Super Bowl champion coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"€œHe had a really interesting perspective on life,"€ former linebacker Andy Russell, who was in his fourth NFL season when Noll became head coach in 1969, said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "€œHe'€™d tell us life is a journey and you never arrive. He was always telling us at some point to find our life'€™s pursuit. I love the guy. He was a tremendous mentor in my life."€

Ironically, Noll wasn't the first choice of the Steelers. That was Joe Paterno. When the Penn State legend turned the job down, then-Baltimore Colts coach Don Shula suggested Pittsburgh hire Noll, one of his assistants.

Of that, a dynasty was born.

Under Noll, the Steelers won four Super Bowls. He coached the team from 1969-91, being replaced by Bill Cowher.

"He will go down as the guy who helped create the mystique that exists now with the Steelers,"€ Cowher told the paper.

Across social media there were many condolences offered to the former 20th-round draft pick out of Dayton. He was selected by the Cleveland Browns.

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