Before the advent of ESPN, Sports-Talk Radio, podcasts, online sports betting, fantasy football, predictive markets and social media, there was NFL coaching icon Chuck Knox. Knox, nicknamed 'Ground Chuck' for his three yards and a cloud of dust style offense, had few peers in the 1970's, 1980's, and early 1990's on the gridiron. He was the Associated Press NFL coach of the year three times during his tenure as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, and Seattle Seahawks. When he retired in 1995, he was tenth on the all-time wins list. Knox also had numerous playoff wins and competed in four conference championship games, but came up short all four times, which puts a damper on his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. The powers that be want you to win the Lombardi Trophy to get a bust in Canton. Tom Coughlin and Mike Shanahan won the Superbowl twice and they're still not in. It's a longshot for Knox. To this day, he remains on the short list of potential NFL Hall of Fame candidates, but always a groomsman, never a groom.
Hard Knox: The Life of an NFL Coach by Chuck Knox and Bill Plaschke, covers Knox's life from his hardscrabble childhood until 1988, the year the book was published. You can infer from reading the introduction that Coach Knox dictated the narrative into a tape recorder and Plaschke was the scribe that organized and edited the manuscript. The book is peppered throughout with snippets of excerpts of interviews with friends, family, ex-players and former colleagues of the coach. I imagine Plaschke was responsible for this, too. You may be familiar with Plaschke with his work as a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times, or nationally as a frequent panelist on ESPN's now defunct Around The Horn. He's an excellent writer. Published almost forty years ago, the book is an artifact of a bygone era, but gives us great insight into a man that should be given serious consideration for Canton. Not for his record, but what he did for African Americans in the NFL.
Knox grew up dirt poor in the mill town of Sewickley in rural Pennsylvania near the Ohio border. A hotbed for football players. His parents emigrated from Europe through Ellis Island - his mother Scottish and his father Irish. His father would be considered abusive in today's world, or any world. Chuck took beatings and as a result, took refuge in the street to escape the wrath of his "old man". It was here that he developed a kinship with his Irish, Italian and African American neighbors, and became colorblind wherever race is concerned. Knox also began using "Knoxisms" at this time. An oratory style that he's famous for. Knoxisms are clichés such as, "Play the hand you're dealt", or, "Don't tell me how rough the water is, just bring the ship in". It's just the way he speaks and it works. It didn't detract from the narrative and is reminiscent of days of yore.
The first third of Hard Knox documents the coach's upbringing in Sewickley, college ball at Juniata College, his time as a high school coach, and his tenure as an offensive line coach for both Wake Forest and Kentucky. The description of his Division I coaching and recruiting experience is a relic of the past well before the Transfer Portal and Name Image and Likeness contracts. Football fans will get a lot out of this even though the recruiting techniques are outdated. It's a slice of the Eisenhower Era in collegiate athletics. Although a player's coach, Knox put the fear of God in his teams and had a confrontational teaching style that is emblematic with old school coaches such as Bobby Knight of Indiana University basketball fame. It wouldn't fly in today's world, but was very common decades ago. I grew up with it. It doesn't bother me.
Knox gets his big break professionally in 1963 with the New York Jets of the American Football League. The old AFL was in a bidding war with the NFL before the leagues merged later in the decade. He made a lot of contributions to the Jets such as developing innovative blocking techniques, and was instrumental in stealing Joe Namath from the Saint Louis Cardinals of the more established NFL. It isn't until Knox moves to the Detroit Lions in 1967 that we get a glimpse of his contributions in race relations. Even though it wasn't publicized, the NFL still had a Jim Crow mentality in the late 60's. African American quarterbacks, middle linebackers and centers were almost unheard of because it was believed they were too dumb to play the positions. That didn't sit well with Knox. He believed that the best athlete should play. His first season in The Motor City, he took Bill Cottrell, an African American guard and moved him to center to anchor the line. That was the catalyst of turning a ragtag group of linemen into an elite corps of blockers. This is a familiar theme throughout Knox's coaching career.
Although Marlin Briscoe is recognized as the first starting African American quarterback in the AFL, it was James Harris in 1974 that shattered the glass ceiling in the NFL. This was under the leadership of Knox as the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. Knox traded the All-Pro John Hadl to the Packers for five draft picks, one of the most one-sided trades in NFL history, and started Harris in his place. The Rams were a playoff calibre team and starting a Black quarterback was verboten until Knox came to town. Harris had a successful run with the Rams despite constantly receiving death threats and racist mail from Rams fans. This is in liberal Los Angeles. Harris was eventually benched for Pat Haden because of pressure from Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom. Rosenbloom wanted things his way and the whole team knew it. As Knox put it, "Assistant coaches can smell the house burning before the match is ever struck". He saw the writing on the wall and resigned in 1977.
Knox cemented his reputation as a master deal maker when he pulled off another blockbuster trade with the Forty-Niners soon after he joined the Buffalo Bills in 1978. He dealt O.J. Simpson for a boatload of draft picks. Simpson was on the decline, but by far the best running back in a running back league. It wasn't until years later when Dallas sent Herschel Walker to the Vikings that NFL fans witnessed a trade of this magnitude. Like with the Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills and later with the Seattle Seahawks, Knox was considered the ultimate turnaround strategist in his era. Taking teams "from hopeless to hell-raisers" in only the way that Coach Knox could say it. Unfortunately, although he was the maestro of motivation, the expert at deal making, one of the most winning coaches of his generation and broke down the doors of racial inequality, he's primarily remembered for coming up short in the big games. This is a mistake.
First and foremost, Chuck Knox belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for eliminating roadblocks restricting African American players. I'm not suggesting he's as revolutionary as Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey who was instrumental in Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in the MLB. Nor is he as important as LBJ signing The Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, but his deeds are important to the NFL's African American population which consists of about 70% of the league. He was an influencer. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts influencers. For example, DJ Alan Freed is enshrined for amalgamating both Caucasian and African American artists over the same airwaves. Knox did essentially the same thing on the football field.
Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott, Caleb Williams to just name a few of the current African American quarterbacks owe a lot to Chuck Knox. In fact, the majority of the NFL owes a lot to him. Coach Knox died of complications of Dementia in 2018. Although he couldn't remember, let's not forget the contributions he made.


