Chuck Knox came to Seattle in 1983. How immediately influential was the no-nonsense coach?

That winter he had the Seahawks in the playoffs, for the first time in their franchise history.

In fact, he had them in the postseason in four of his first six seasons leading the team. Or, again, four more times than the Seahawks were ever in the playoffs before Knox arrived.

The Seahawks began this week continuing to remember the transformational coach who led them to their first playoff victory, their first conference championship game—and their first time being identified like he was: a tough, no-excuses winner.

Knox’s died Saturday night at the age of 86 following a long fight with dementia.

“His presence projected an external toughness, but merited instantaneous respect by the genuine care and concern he held for his players,” the Seahawks said in a statement they issued Sunday.

“He was one of the great influencers not only in football, but in life.”

Knox remains the only coach among the 11 men in the Seahawks’ Ring of Honor. He was inducted by the team in 2005.

One of the first and most impacting things the Seahawks did after hiring the former five-time division winner with the Los Angeles Rams in 1983 was instill his relatively conservative, run-first philosophy based on tireless preparation and attention to detail. That was a jolt after the team’s often-wild, wide-open—and losing—first seven years in the NFL. Kicker Efren Herrera catching passes was fun, but Seattle never had more than nine wins in a season and was a sub-.500 team again the year before Knox arrived.

Knox’s most famous of many sayings was “Play the hand you are dealt.” Three months after they hired Knox, the Seahawks dealt.

They traded trade their first-, second- and third-round picks to Houston to move up to third overall in the 1983 draft and select running back Curt Warner from Penn State. That put his “Ground Chuck” offense in high gear for Knox’s first Seahawks team.

Viola! Months later, Seattle played the hand it dealt itself into its first-ever playoff berth.

Then Warner ran for 99 yards and the Seahawks beat Denver in the Kingdome on Christmas Eve 1983 for the franchise’s first playoff win. The next weekend the Seahawks upset Miami in the Orange Bowl to advance to the AFC championship game against the Los Angeles Raiders. Knox’s personality, expertise and excellence had instantly transformed the franchise.

For that, he was the NFL coach of the year for 1983.

Warner suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening game of the 1984 season, yet the Seahawks went a franchise-best 12-4 that year and returned to the playoffs. Knox was again the league’s coach of the year.

Knox’s 80 wins from 1983-91 were most by a coach in team history, until Mike Holmgren broke that mark in the 2000s. Knox’s three playoff wins for Seattle were the franchise’s only victories in the postseason from its inaugural season of 1976 until 2005, when Holmgren took the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl.

Knox won 186 games coaching in the NFL for the Rams, Bills and Seahawks and Rams again, from 1973 through ‘94. He is 10th all-time in the league in coaching wins.

“You know that if you prepare well, you are probably going to play well,” Knox once said. “You’re not always going to win. But you are going to play hard and they are going to go out there and give a great performance.

“You can live with that.”

Charles Robert Knox was born April 27, 1932, in Sewickley, Penn., just west of Pittsburgh. He grew up there during the Great Depression. He then played both offensive and defensive tackle at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Penn., and was a captain on Juniata’s undefeated team in 1953. His coaching career began as an assistant at Juniata.

In 1963 he became the New York Jets’ offensive line coach. Knox is credited with playing a key role in the Jets decision to draft Joe Namath first in the 1965 American Football League draft, and to win a bidding war with the NFL for the superstar quarterback. Namath eventually won a Super Bowl for the Jets.

Knox became the offensive line coach for the Detroit Lions from 1967-72. Then the Rams made him a first-time head coach in the league in ‘73.

Smart move.

Two decades of ultra-prepared players, assistant coaches and roaring fans from Seattle to Los Angeles to Buffalo were thrilled to live with that.