Seahawks former head coach Chuck Knox passes away
By Lee Vowell
Chuck Knox was the first head coach in Seahawks history to lead them to the playoffs. On Sunday, Knox’s granddaughter announced that the former coach had died. Knox will forever be remembered in Seattle as making the Seahawks relevant.
1983 was Chuck Knox’s first season with the Seattle Seahawks. And that was also the first year since the franchises’ inception in 1976 that Seattle made the playoffs. It was also the year that Seattle reached the AFC Championship for the first time.
Knox spent nine seasons with the Seahawks. In six of those years, Seattle made the playoffs. While Seattle never made it back to the AFC Championship game, the team remained solid in his tenure. This included the team winning its first divisional crown in 1988.
A lot of what Knox liked to do is what current head coach Pete Carroll wants to do: Run the ball well and play good defense. Slightly ironic is the fact that when Knox was fired from the Los Angeles Rams in 1995, it was mostly due to the feeling his offense had become too predictable.
Flash forward to the 2013 season when Carroll used a great defense and a lot of Marshawn Lynch to not only win the Super Bowl but be one of the best teams in the history of the NFL. Knox would probably still win games today with the right players. Just as any good coach would.
Knox was inducted into the Seattle Seahawks Ring of Honor in 2005. He still hasn’t been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and may never be. But it also wouldn’t be surprising to see him get in this year posthumously.
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There is no doubt, however, that Seattle would not have become the successful franchise it is without Chuck Knox being a head coach for the franchise during the beginning stages of Seahawks football.