Dick Hoak

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced on 11 November 2026 that Dick Hoak had died at the age of 86. No cause of death was given in the announcement. In a statement, team president Art Rooney II 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." Funeral arrangements had not been made public in the first reports.

Richard John Hoak was born on 8 December 1939 in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. At Jeannette High School he starred at quarterback and defensive back, led the team to the WPIAL 3A title in 1956 and was named All-State. He also led the basketball team in scoring and set a school single game record of 39 points, and earned three letters in track before graduating in 1957.

At Penn State from 1958 he played halfback, safety and finally quarterback. The Nittany Lions won the first Liberty Bowl in 1959, and in the 1960 Liberty Bowl he was named Most Valuable Player as Penn State beat Oregon 41 to 12. He was voted the team's MVP as a senior and graduated in 1961 with a degree in social studies.

Pittsburgh selected Hoak in the seventh round, 90th overall, of the 1961 NFL draft. Over ten seasons he rushed 1,132 times for 3,965 yards and 25 touchdowns and caught 146 passes for 1,452 yards. He made the Pro Bowl in 1968, the year of his 77 yard touchdown run, and led the team in rushing several times. He retired after the 1970 season second only to John Henry Johnson on the franchise rushing list.

After a brief spell teaching and coaching at Wheeling Catholic High School, he was offered interviews in 1972 by both the University of Pittsburgh and the Steelers. He saw Chuck Noll first and accepted his offer. As running backs coach for 35 seasons under Noll and Bill Cowher he coached Franco Harris, Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker, and the Steelers won Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, XIV and XL. He declined the head coaching job of the USFL's Pittsburgh Maulers in 1983 out of loyalty to the Rooneys. He announced his retirement on 1 January 2007, having been part of 742 of the franchise's 1,057 games.

Hoak stayed close to home all his life and lived in Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania. His wife, Lynn, died on 9 March 2019. His daughter, Kelly Hoak Shuster, has spoken publicly about his long friendship with Franco Harris, who celebrated Hoak's 83rd birthday with him shortly before Harris died in December 2022. Friends described him as a quiet, humble man who visited the same Panera Bread in Hempfield almost every day.

Hoak's 35 seasons as a Steelers coach are the most in franchise history and his five Super Bowl rings are the most won by any Steelers player or coach. He was an inaugural member of the Steelers Hall of Honor in 2017, was 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 assistant coaches in 2025. Dick LeBeau said of his 45 years with one organisation that it would probably never happen again.