Jim Gehman Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Jan. 11 marks the 35th anniversary of Chuck Knox being named as the head coach of the Bills. As you’ll read, the situation that Knox faced in 1978 is quite similar to what Buffalo’s newly hired head coach Doug Marrone is facing today. Knox Landing Chuck Knox’s reputation for success preceded him. Hired for his first head-coaching job by the Rams in 1973, he guided Los Angeles to the penthouse of the NFC West division. And so with the goal to move into the AFC East’s top floor, in 1978 the hardworking Knox was hired by the Bills as their vice president in charge of football operations. In other words, he was the new head coach. "Ralph Wilson came out and visited with me and told me what he wanted to do," explained Knox. "I’d just finished five years within which we won five straight divisional championships. Fifty-four wins, 15 loses, one tie. And that was playing a 14-game schedule. So the Bills job appealed to me because they had won like three or four games [actually five] over a two-year period, and I felt like we could go in there and turn the program around." Knox’s willingness to tackle such an adventuresome project, considering that the Bills had only played in a single playoff game since the leagues merged in 1970, no doubt shocked at least a few around the league. "Anytime you leave a team like the L.A. Rams," said Knox, "where we were winning big, and going to situations like that, where they were having a lot of problems, I think it surprised a lot of people. "The goal always is to win the Super Bowl championship. But in light of that, you’ve got to put a competitive team out on the field, which they obviously didn’t have those last couple of years before we got there. We had to change the attitude of the team. We had to completely redo the scouting department, which wasn’t much of anything. So we hired some scouts. We brought Norm Pollom in [as the director of college scouting], who had been with me with the Rams. And then we also went and got some veteran players to bring some toughness. We became a pretty good football team. We were competitive that first year." "When Chuck took over it was like a breath of fresh air," said third-year defensive end Ben Williams. "We hadn’t been very successful. What Chuck did when he came was he brought the team together and showed us a lot of unity and how to win. Nobody ever taught you how to win early in my career." Excerpt from “Then Levy Said to Kelly…” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Knox may have been the Bills greatest coach. If he wasnt he was tied w Lou. Can you imagine the Bills bringing in a guy with Knox's pedigree now?? I wish and hope for the best w Marrone...-but its a guessing game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Knox may have been the Bills greatest coach. If he wasnt he was tied w Lou. Can you imagine the Bills bringing in a guy with Knox's pedigree now?? I wish and hope for the best w Marrone...-but its a guessing game. Agreed. Chuck Knox and Lou Saban neck and neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike In Illinois Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I was too young to recall any of the "Ground Chuck" Era of the Bills but I wish I could have seen it in person: Bermuda Triangle and Joe Cribbs being my favorites to read about from that time. Talkin' Proud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 It really was great. My favorite Bills teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Knox may have been the Bills greatest coach. If he wasnt he was tied w Lou. Can you imagine the Bills bringing in a guy with Knox's pedigree now?? I wish and hope for the best w Marrone...-but its a guessing game. He was the Bills greatest coach. Our SB W/L record might be very different if he stayed. I do recall him being out coached by By Bud Grant however when he was with the rams..It was a play off game on grass in LA. Field in good shape at the beginning but heavy rains predicted any minute. Grant went air Grant from the beginning, running a pass happy 2 minute drill on every possession . I don't remember exactly but I believe they scored 2 or so TDs. Ground Chuck, true to his name, was content to run the ball and settle for couple FGs. Half time the rain started. Coming down in buckets, turned the field into a sea of mud. Runners couldn't run, passers couldn't pass. Minnesota won with the half time score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackFergy Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 (edited) I miss those days...I was a little tike but still remember listening to the Miami game on the radio with my family when we finally beat them. That era was special with Fergie, Cribbs, Butler, Lewis etc. Knox was a great coach. Thanks for that post. Edited January 12, 2013 by BringBackFergy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I miss those days...I was a little tike but still remember listening to the Miami game on the radio with my family when we finally beat them. That era was special with Fergie, Cribbs, Butler, Lewis etc. Knox was a great coach. Thanks for that post. I was was at that game. First class seats, 3 rows up on the 40 visitors side(my Buddy's wife had won tickets at work). I clearly heard Shula yelling "WHAT ARE WE DOING OUT THERE!" Great memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmenow Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Frank lewis was stolen from pittsburgh. They were a solid team back then. Isiah Robertson, hazlett getting into it at the pierce arrow in west seneca. Jerry butler catching four td's versus the jets on a sunny day at rich stadium. Jumped on the field when the bills finally broke the streak versus fins. Those were great times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 What people forget from that period is that the press was all abuzz about the Bills possibily signing Monte Clark to coach. Then at the last minute, Clark went to Detroit (I believe) and Wilson shocked us all by hiring Knox. In those days before ESPN and Twitter and whatnot it was a lot easier for such negotiations to stay under the radar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwight in philly Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 the team that lost to the chargers in 81 would have won it all had not fergy been hurt.. played the entire game practically on one leg.. also, if only bill simpson had stopped ron smith.. still think "what if" .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmenow Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 If i remember fergy got hurt versus the pats at rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 the team that lost to the chargers in 81 would have won it all had not fergy been hurt.. played the entire game practically on one leg.. also, if only bill simpson had stopped ron smith.. still think "what if" .. Up until the Super Bowl losses that was my toughest Bills memory as a kid -- I was 11 and it was the first time "my" team was really good. My heart just dropped when Fouts completed that late TD pass. Gutsy, gutsy performance by Fergie though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRHater69 Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Knox was ruined by the ineptitude of the front office back then. Namely Stew Barber who was responsible for some of their big names like Smerlas, Butler, and Cribbs all holding out harboring resentment toward the team. The player's strike in '82 also hurt things here. He just didn't seem like the same guy after that and resigned shortly after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 (edited) If i remember fergy got hurt versus the pats at rich. It was at Foxboro... Cribbs ran the wrong way on a handoff, and Fergy was caught off guard and got crunched. Sigh. Those Knox teams were great, but they also had a maddening tendency to come up extremely flat in some games--think of their two losses to Baltimore in 1980, in St. Louis in 1981, in Miami to end the 1981 season, or even their second half collapses against Atlanta in 1980 against Dallas on MNF in 1981. There was something emotionally fragile about that team, which is also reflected in how the 1982 strike completely destroyed them. "Of all sad words of tongue and pen/The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'" P.S. But the Stew Barber comments are so correct. He was a disaster as GM! Edited January 12, 2013 by RJ (not THAT RJ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwight in philly Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Up until the Super Bowl losses that was my toughest Bills memory as a kid -- I was 11 and it was the first time "my" team was really good. My heart just dropped when Fouts completed that late TD pass. Gutsy, gutsy performance by Fergie though. i know, i really think that loss stung me harder than the loss to the giants in the super bowl.. the 4 super bowl teams have overshadowed that team, but at the time, they were possibly the best team .. would have hosted oakland at rich the following week.. beat them.. beat the eagles in the super bowl.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 the team that lost to the chargers in 81 would have won it all had not fergy been hurt.. played the entire game practically on one leg.. also, if only bill simpson had stopped ron smith.. still think "what if" .. Simpson had him bottled up most of the game IIRC, until that last game breaker. Ugh! They were wearing some great laundry though - back in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Never NEVER Give-up Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Can you imagine the Bills bringing in a guy with Knox's pedigree now?? It doesn't happen anymore. Knox had guts and reading the excerpt above was news to me - and refreshing! He WANTED the challenge! He knew if he turned the sad-sack Bills around, it would be a major accomplishment. Today's 'name' coaches won't take on a job unless they know they have a great QB on the roster or unless they're lined up to draft one at the top of round 1. They know it's very difficult to win without a great QB and many are afraid to tarnish their reputations on a team without one. See Cowher, Shanahan, etc. What's Cowher waiting for anyway? Another coupe of years and he'll have to beg for a job (probably not - but it SHOULD be that way). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 It doesn't happen anymore. Knox had guts and reading the excerpt above was news to me - and refreshing! He WANTED the challenge! He knew if he turned the sad-sack Bills around, it would be a major accomplishment. In this respect, Marrone's introductory press conference comments are somewhat Knox-like. I got the sense he truly relishes the chance to turn Buffalo around, and honestly believes he's the man to do it. He'll be a friggin' hero if he makes it happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 He was the Bills greatest coach. Our SB W/L record might be very different if he stayed. Chuck Knox was not only the HC but also the de facto GM. In his short stint he did a remarkable job. Not being able to come to a contract agreement after what he accomplished is emblematic of a Ralph Wilson chicken shiiiit organization and business model. In my view he was the best HC in the history of the franchise. Lou Saban also did a good job but he was too unstable as a person to work in any organization. I have little regard for the owner of the Bills. But I do understand his negative feelings toward the vagabound HC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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