:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59724599/116610258.jpg.0.jpg)
On Saturday, May 12, former Buffalo Bills head coach Chuck Knox passed away at 86 years old. Knox was a coach in the NFL for 31 years starting as an offensive line coach for the New York Jets. Eventually he was given his chance as a head coach with the Los Angeles Rams in 1973 and held the position of a head coach for 21 straight years after that split among four stops with three teams. Knox coached the Bills from 1978 to 1982.
In his five seasons as head coach for the Bills, Knox lead the team to the playoffs twice including AFC East crown in 1980. He inherited a team that had won five combined games over the previous two seasons but won five in his first with the club and it only got better from there. Knox won the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year three times (with three teams), one coming with the Bills in 1980 where the team went 11-5 and finished first in the AFC East. It was Buffalo’s second playoff appearance since 1966 as a member of the AFL.
His longest tenure was with the Seattle Seahawks, winning Coach of the Year honors for the final time in 1984. Knox’s name proudly sits in the Seahawks Ring of Honor. He remains the only coach to be on the list.
Our thoughts are with his wife Shirley, his son Chuck, and the rest of the Knox family during this difficult time. He died at the age of 86 after a long battle with dementia.