The Greatest Coach in Seahawk History

Not only is Sunday important because it is our first game against a divisional opponent, but half time is going to be memorable, as they finally induct Chuck Knox into the Ring of Honor.

The second coach in Seahawks history, he's most noteworthy for bringing the franchise within a game of the SuperBowl, but in addition, he brought class, respect and notoriety to an obscure expansion team stuck somewhere northwest of Egypt.

All Seahawks fans owe a debt of gratitude to Coach Knox, but visitors to this blog need to pay a little extra homage, for it was under his tutelage that our first team jersey was retired.

The Seahawks were 30-18 in a span of three seasons - the best run in franchise history. The Kingdome became a nightmarish place for any and all teams that dared step on the turf. The vaunted "12th Man" was born out of the delirious sellout crowds every home Sunday.

Throughout his career, Knox was known as a no-nonsense "players coach", who succeeded with a simple game plan executed to perfection. Everyone knew what a Knox coached team was going to do, they just had no idea how to stop it.

Chuck never had to write "Commit to the Run" on his gameday play chart, it was written on his heart and he drilled it into the soul of his teams. (point of history, I'm not sure he ever HAD a gameday play chart!)

"He had this sense of toughness that exceeded everybody else's sense of toughness. He created the atmosphere of that style of football and the way we were going to do it with all of his little colloquialisms. It created a great atmosphere around here. He loved veteran players, and they responded to him.

It seems appropriate that Knox is getting inducted in the Ring of Honor now, this year, as the above paragraph could be describing the new found focus and ambition of our current young Seahawks team, and not the team from over 20 years ago.

Given the way we squeaked out a victory last week, hopefully the emotional ceremony will fire the team up and we'll come out in the second half with intensity and a sense of urgency.

But before we go apologizing for outlasting the Falcon comeback last week, let's listen to a signature quote from the greatest coach in Seahawks history:

"I have never been associated with a bad win."

While I'm totally supportive of his induction into the Ring of Honor, I'm not sure it's right to have his name emblazoned high above the crowd. No, in Chuck's case, it would be much more appropriate if his name was immortalized on the Ground!