Observer · Jeannette, PA
Longtime Steelers assistant coach Dick Hoak dies at 86
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dick Hoak, who spent more than 45 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a player and then an assistant coach, winning five Super Bowl rings along the way, has died. He was 86. The team announced Hoak’s death on Wednesday. No cause of death was given. “Dick represented everything the Steelers stand for with his toughness, loyalty, dedication and an unwavering commitment to the team,” team president Art Rooney II said in a statement. Selected by the Steelers in the seventh round of the 1961 NFL draft after a standout career at Penn State, Hoak ran for 3,965 yards and 25 touchdowns in 10 seasons in Pittsburgh’s backfield, leading the then-struggling club in rushing three times. Hoak, a Pro Bowler in 1968 after running for a career-best 858 yards, retired after the 1970 season and joined coach Chuck Noll’s staff as running backs coach in 1972.
