Spun Posted July 22, 2016 Posted July 22, 2016 Interesting article about former Bills head coach, Chuck Knox. http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-chuck-knox-plaschke-20160716-snap-story.html
Buffalo Barbarian Posted July 22, 2016 Posted July 22, 2016 Marv is still my favorite but some day it will be Jim Harbaugh. Awesome story and truly amazing effort by his granddaughter to get him in the HOF but if you have to work that hard to get someone in then they probably don't deserve it.
machine gun kelly Posted July 22, 2016 Posted July 22, 2016 He was a good coach for us. I remember watching those teams, but honestly forgot why we lost him after only a couple of years. We obviously went backwards until Levy and Polian arrived in Buffalo. If any of the old timers could enlighten the story behind why he left. Did Ralph fire him?
GRHater69 Posted July 22, 2016 Posted July 22, 2016 (edited) He left on his own. The strike in '82 took a toll, but the real issues started with the Bills front office not getting Tom Cousineau here after he left the CFL. Ralph stated he would never pay that kind of $$ for a linebacker. So they traded his rights to Cleveland for a bunch of draft choices one of which turned into Jim Kelly, but there was no way of knowing that back when the trade happened. Coach Knox was NOT happy about that. There were also a lot of issues with the GM at that time Stew Barber, constant holdouts of players like Butler, Smerlas, and Cribbs. So Knox headed for greener pastures with Seattle. Edited July 22, 2016 by GRHater69
vincec Posted July 22, 2016 Posted July 22, 2016 (edited) Knox was a good coach, but I kind of see him as the Marty Schottenheimer of his era. His discipline and "ground chuck" approach was able to turn multiple teams into winners but his success always seemed to wane in the post season. OK, he's probably a little better than Marty but still not HOF worthy, IMO. Of course if Chris Doleman is in there... Edited July 22, 2016 by vincec
Dave in Avon Lake now Posted July 22, 2016 Posted July 22, 2016 I'm a big supported of what Chuck Knox did in Buffalo. They were also rans and no one was going to the stadium in the last 70s. With the OJ Simpson trade and some veteran signings he really turned the team around. They made the playoffs in 1980 and 1981 and beat Miami after a decade of futility. Then the strike happened as previously stated and Wilson soured on Knox and players like Cribbs left for the USFL. It was tough to see them fall off a cliff while Kelly opted for the USFL.
Nanker Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 He left on his own. The strike in '82 took a toll, but the real issues started with the Bills front office not getting Tom Cousineau here after he left the CFL. Ralph stated he would never pay that kind of $$ for a linebacker. So they traded his rights to Cleveland for a bunch of draft choices one of which turned into Jim Kelly, but there was no way of knowing that back when the trade happened. Coach Knox was NOT happy about that. There were also a lot of issues with the GM at that time Stew Barber, constant holdouts of players like Butler, Smerlas, and Cribbs. So Knox headed for greener pastures with Seattle. This. Pretty much how I remember it going down. I remember when he "went on tour" out west, hoping he'd come back. He made the rounds and settled on Seattle. Good for them. Bad for The Bills.
bigK14094 Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 In the days of Knox tenure at Buffalo, Mr Wilson was a serious hands on owner.....not as much in later years....but, I think, Knox also had enough of that and headed back west. How do I know that....well, I was a business person traveling back and forth to Detroit weekly in those days (by plane), and, I often saw Knox shuttling over to Detroit. Way more than a coach in total control would have to do. And, he usually traveled with 3 or 4 others....don't know if they were administration, or coaches, but it was a regular group on that circuit.
Rubes Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 My all-time favorite Bills coach. More than Marv, huh?
Geo in Pa Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 My all-time favorite Bills coach. A certain hall of fame guard would disagree.
Marv's Neighbor Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 He left on his own. The strike in '82 took a toll, but the real issues started with the Bills front office not getting Tom Cousineau here after he left the CFL. Ralph stated he would never pay that kind of $$ for a linebacker. So they traded his rights to Cleveland for a bunch of draft choices one of which turned into Jim Kelly, but there was no way of knowing that back when the trade happened. Coach Knox was NOT happy about that. There were also a lot of issues with the GM at that time Stew Barber, constant holdouts of players like Butler, Smerlas, and Cribbs. So Knox headed for greener pastures with Seattle. I always liked Chuck. I was living in Seattle when he moved there. He coached 'The Boz!" Maybe Ralph was right about not wanting to pay Cousineau?
machine gun kelly Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 Interesting guys. I thought he left on his own, but thanks for clarifying. I give Mr. Wilson a lot of credit for everything he did do for the city, but he was such a meddling owner he couldn't get out of his own way. What would have happened if he chose Polian over Littman? Spilt milk. I agree Knox was a good coach, but I wouldn't put him in the HOF, just like Marty and Dan Reeves. They are in the Hall of Very Good. For example, today in the last 15 years, the only coach (wait, let me not throw up) worthy of the HOF is the Evil Emperor Belicheck. He deserves it.
Alaska Darin Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 Knox was a good coach, but I kind of see him as the Marty Schottenheimer of his era. His discipline and "ground chuck" approach was able to turn multiple teams into winners but his success always seemed to wane in the post season. OK, he's probably a little better than Marty but still not HOF worthy, IMO. Of course if Chris Doleman is in there... Great observation. He was the original Marty Schottenheimer and his teams always came up short in the post season. He had huge balls, trading away John Hadl for a king's ransome (the first "Herschel Walker" type trade) to start James Harris.
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 Very fine coach, but the Marty comparisons are apt. His teams also had a surprising habit of coming up flat in big games. Even those great Bills teams of 1980 and 1981 laid some huge clunkers at times you wouldn't expect; in 1982 the team pitched two shutouts at home after the strike, but lost a bunch of road games in increasingly embarrassing fashion to miss the playoffs.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 He left on his own. The strike in '82 took a toll, but the real issues started with the Bills front office not getting Tom Cousineau here after he left the CFL. Ralph stated he would never pay that kind of $$ for a linebacker. So they traded his rights to Cleveland for a bunch of draft choices one of which turned into Jim Kelly, but there was no way of knowing that back when the trade happened. Coach Knox was NOT happy about that. There were also a lot of issues with the GM at that time Stew Barber, constant holdouts of players like Butler, Smerlas, and Cribbs. So Knox headed for greener pastures with Seattle. Ralph was cheap - and the major reason we have been middling team for so many yrs
Nihilarian Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 He left on his own. The strike in '82 took a toll, but the real issues started with the Bills front office not getting Tom Cousineau here after he left the CFL. Ralph stated he would never pay that kind of $$ for a linebacker. So they traded his rights to Cleveland for a bunch of draft choices one of which turned into Jim Kelly, but there was no way of knowing that back when the trade happened. Coach Knox was NOT happy about that. There were also a lot of issues with the GM at that time Stew Barber, constant holdouts of players like Butler, Smerlas, and Cribbs. So Knox headed for greener pastures with Seattle. After the strike year, Knox wanted a raise for what he was able to do for not only the team but also the city and Wilson said no! Mostly because the stadium was filled again and fans were coming to games in droves with Knox as HC. Before hiring Knox Ralph Wilson was getting desperate because fans wouldn't even attend preseason games so the team held them in other cities. Attendance was at an all-time low and season ticket sales were around 20k. Things in Buffalo were pretty bleak at that point in time as the Bills hadn't beaten Don Shula's Dolphins once in the entire decade of the 70's. The city was the butt of night time TV jokes and the that was the time of wicked snow storms and the infamous love canal, foul-smelling air from the steel mills that were now closing down from a depressed economy. Knox was fired by the Rams owner because he didn't get them a super bowl win and so Wilson hired Knox and made him one of the highest-paid head coaches in the NFL at that time. But yea, after his contract was up Knox left for Seattle and Wilson let him leave... In regards to Tom Cousineau, that was all the moron Bills GM in Stew Barber and the final difference between what Buffalo offered him and what the Montreal Alouettes offered was a mere 10k. The bigger deal here was that Cousineau was supposed to have dinner with Barber and Wilson in Buffalo and they never showed up thanks to Barber. This really upset Cousineau who said he felt like a fool sitting there with his agent waiting as nobody showed up to tell him they weren't coming. Kind of amazing in what Knox was able to do in Buffalo despite the complete tool of a GM in Barber and alas Wilson's bean counters eventually got the best of everyone worth a damn over time.
atlbillsfan1975 Posted July 24, 2016 Posted July 24, 2016 evrytime I hear his name I think about how Knox told my 4 year old cousin he killed Santa. Gods honest truth. Ha
BUFFALOKIE Posted July 24, 2016 Posted July 24, 2016 evrytime I hear his name I think about how Knox told my 4 year old cousin he killed Santa. Gods honest truth. Ha Please continue this story!
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