By Duane Lewis

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Legendary NFL coach Chuck Knox has donated $1 million to his alma mater to endow a history chair at Juniata College.

Knox, who was head coach of the Rams from 1973-78, and again from 1992-94, played tackle on both offense and defense at Juniata (pronounced JUNE-knee-ot-ahh) in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and was co-captain of the college’s first undefeated team in 1953. He also earned letters in track, competing in the discus and shot put.

A native of Sewickly, Pa., Knox earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Juniata in 1954. He was named an assistant coach at the school the same year, and became head coach at several Pennsylvania high schools from 1955 to 1959. Later in 1959, he was hired as assistant coach at Wake Forest University and then moved to the University of Kentucky from 1961-1962. Knox moved into the professional coaching ranks as an assistant with the New York Jets (1963-66) and Detroit Lions (1967-72) before becoming head coach of the Rams in 1973.

“My time at Juniata influenced my career in that I learned the basic concepts of teaching and relating to people during my time there,” Knox said. “The football field is an extension of the classroom – you even write out lesson plans for what you might do on a particular day – and all those skills relate directly to what I learned at Juniata.”

Knox won division titles in each of his five seasons with the Rams, part of an NFL record seven consecutive division titles for the Rams from 1973-79. Knox went on to head coaching jobs in Buffalo (1979-82) and Seattle (1983-91) before coming back to the Rams (1992-94).

Among his accomplishments, Knox took the Rams to three consecutive NFC Championship games (1974-76). Although not in the Hall of Fame, Knox has multiple Coach of the Year Awards and 193 career wins, more than Bill Walsh, George Allen, Hank Stram, and Marv Levy.

“My motivation (for the endowment) was a simple one,” said Knox during a conference call Wednesday afternoon with reports during a conference call here at the site of Super Bowl XXXIX between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. “I was going to back there (to Juniata) after my second year being out and be an instructor in basic history courses at Juniata College with the condition of finishing a Master of Arts degree.”

After earning nine hours during the summer towards his Master’s degree, Knox found his calling – coaching.

“I’ve always been grateful for Juniata College for the quality education,” Knox said. “It’s a liberal arts school with about 1,000 students. They have a Nobel Prize-winning professor there (Dr. William Phillips in Physics in 1997), and an outstanding staff. I wanted to go back and do something. The president (Dr. Thomas Kepple Jr.) approached my wife Shirley and I about to endow a chair in history. It would take $1 million to do that in perpetuity, and this is what we did.”