Nolls at Home in the South Hills Jim O’Brien
Chuck Noll will turn 82 this January 5. Currently living in Bonita Springs, Florida, he maintains an apartment in Sewickley. He and his wife, Marianne, lived in Upper St. Clair during his entire 23-year stay (1969-1991) as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Noll is not in good health. With persistent back pain and requiring two canes to get around, he also has significant memory loss. He has not agreed to interviews or fielded telephone calls for several years. The following is an excerpt from the new book, “Chuck Noll, a Winning Way” by author Jim O’Brien of Upper St. Clair. The first book ever published on Noll, O’Brien held lengthy interviews with him on several occasions through the years and into Noll’s retirement. Chuck and Marianne Noll are sitting across a table from me in the spacious family room of their home in Upper St. Clair, sorting out story details, smiling, and playing off one another. They are a good team. Marianne knew her husband’s stories as well as he did, the way Milene Mazeroski knows Bill’s stories, and cued him to share stories he may not have volunteered on his own. The Nolls seemed to be in the best of spirits. They looked relaxed; indeed, they looked relieved. I envied their tranquil appearance and setting and security. It had been just over three months since Noll announced his retirement as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the couple had spent most of that time touring Florida on their boat and visiting family and friends. This may have accounted for their sunny disposition and healthy appearance. Chuck’s brother, Bob, was living in Tampa, and there was a niece and a nephew down there, too. Chuck also had a sister, Rita, who lived in Cleveland, and her children had lived with Chuck and Marianne quite a bit through some difficult times. During the previous 23 years, Noll would have spent the winter studying scouting reports from his personnel department, trying to determine whom the Steelers should select in the college draft. He was absolutely paying no attention to such activity now. It did not concern him. That was now Chuck Noll at Steelers training camp in the ’70s Bill Cowher’s concern. “I haven’t spent (photo by George Gojkovich) a great deal of time with Bill,” said Noll when I asked him what he thought of his successor. “He’s a bright young man, and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be successful.” I pushed the subject a little further. “Are you still a draftnik? Have you paid any attention to what’s going on in the all-star games and the scouting camp workouts?” “I frankly haven’t seen them play,” said Noll. “I haven’t got that day-to-day obligation to make. I don’t have that big decision to make. My next decision is what port-of-call to make in our boat.” Despite his long and successful stay in Pittsburgh with the Steelers, Noll remained an enigma to most. Neither he nor Marianne sought the spotlight or wanted to be seen in “Seen,” the Post-Gazette’s celebrity-about-town photo feature, or the Trib’s version of who was in attendance at the latest fundraising socials. They guarded their private life. Noll turned down offers for TV and radio shows, commercials, public appearances, and paid speaking engagements, and often disappointed sportswriters wanting him to be a more colorful coach. Noll was never regarded as a good interview. But he was better than most people realized and he was generally always available. His door was usually open. As I have gone over my legal pads and notebooks with jottings from interviews I’ve done Chuck Noll with Andy Rooney at the with him, I am often struck by some of his more expansive statements. 1993 Football Hall of Fame Induction ceremony
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UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY
Winter 2013