Longtime Steelers RB, Coach Dick Hoak Dies At 86

Pittsburgh has lost a legend. Dick Hoak, who played and coached the running back position for the Steelers for 45 years, has passed away at the age of 86, according to a statement from team owner and president Art Rooney II.

“Dick was part of the foundation of this organization and played an instrumental role in shaping the Steelers as both a player and coach during his 45 years with the team,” Rooney said. “Dick represented everything the Steelers stand for with his toughness, loyalty, dedication and an unwavering commitment to the team. First as a player, then as a coach, Dick’s contributions to this organization spanned generations.”

Hoak, a native of the Pittsburgh area, played quarterback, running back, and safety at Penn State and arrived in the NFL in 1961 as a seventh-round pick by his hometown team. He appeared in 135 games (76 starts) over the next decade, primarily as a running back. He racked up 5,417 yards and 33 touchdowns from scrimmage while also mixing in on special teams and even throwing 40 passes in his career. His lone Pro Bowl selection came in 1968, when he ranked fourth in the NFL with 858 rushing yards and third with 4.9 yards per carry. His 77-yard rushing touchdown was also the longest in the league. Hoak added 28 catches for 253 yards that year, and all of those numbers were career-bests.

Hoak retired after the 1970 season but remained in Pittsburgh as the running backs coach under Chuck Noll. He held the position for the next 35 years and was one of Noll’s few assistants to survive the team’s 1991 transition to Bill Cowher.

“Dick Hoak was a conduit for me to lean on and understand what championship teams were built on in Pittsburgh,” Cowher said on Wednesday (via Gery Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). “He was there. He represented the core values of what Chuck Noll brought to the Steelers and Pittsburgh community. I leaned on him a lot. He was an ear for me.”

During his tenure, Hoak developed players like Franco Harris and Jerome Bettis, and the Steelers won five Super Bowls (1974-5, 1978-9, 2005). He retired on New Year’s Day in 2007, a week before Cowher stepped down. Hoak was named to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Legends team later that year and inducted into the team’s Hall of Honor in 2017 in recognition of his 45 years with the franchise. He was later inducted into the National High School Football Hall of Fame in 2024 and received the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Award of Excellence for his coaching career the following year.

We at PFR send our condolences to Hoak’s friends and family.