Former Rams Call Knox a Good Choice : Reaction: Olsen and Hadl say that he will get the team back on track.

Chuck Knox will be wearing blue and gold sweaters again, but the similarities between his first and latest NFL head coaching jobs go much deeper than just the color scheme of his wardrobe.

Knox made his head coaching debut with the Rams almost two decades ago. But when he starts to examine game films of the 1991 Rams, it will bring back not-so-fond memories of his first days with the team in 1973.

That year, he took over a club that had a 6-7-1 record the previous season. This time, he will attempt to right a club that staggered to a 3-13 mark.

According to Merlin Olsen, a Hall of Fame defensive tackle who played with the Rams from 1962 to ‘76, both of the Ram teams Knox has inherited had stopped responding to their previous coach.

“In ‘73, Knox took over a team that was a losing team, a team that was very unsure about itself, a team that really had lost its discipline,” said Olsen, who recently retired as a television commentator for CBS. “And I say that without trying to shoot at anybody.

“Knox took over for a very good coach (Tommy Prothro), but that team had just gotten away from him, and I think the same can be said of the current Ram team and John Robinson.

“And basically, he came in and put things back in order very rapidly, so I think it’s safe to say that Knox is very well suited to this situation.”

Knox, who may appear cool and even aloof at times, is the quintessential players’ coach, according to Olsen. Forget back-slapping and fanny-patting, Olsen says players want their roles spelled out.

“Knox has the ability to get eye to eye with his players, to let them know specifically what he expects of them in every situation, every phase of the game,” Olsen said. “I believe that’s exactly what the Rams need now.

“I think Robinson did that very effectively for the first five or six seasons, but whatever the reason, that’s no longer the case.”

So the Rams will attempt to make a fresh start under the direction of a man who has made a living by starting at the beginning. Even in the modern NFL, winning football games is not all that complicated in Knox’s view.

There’s blocking, tackling, running, catching and throwing, and the guy who does them best usually wins.

“I remember I always had the feeling he was a breath of fresh air,” Olsen said. “Perhaps it was because I was a lineman, who always consider themselves to be trod on, and he got his start as an offensive line coach.

“He always said the game begins at the line of scrimmage. He was always concerned with the basics of the game.”

John Hadl, the Ram quarterback in 1973, a Ram assistant coach in 1982 and head coach of the USFL’s Los Angeles Express in 1984 and 1985, also applauded Knox’s return.

“I think it’s a great move by (owner) Georgia (Frontiere),” Hadl said from Lawrence, Kan., where he is the University of Kansas’ assistant athletic director for development. “Chuck knows how to win. And I don’t think he’s conservative in any stretch of the imagination. I think he’s smart. His philosophy is to do what it takes to win.

“The players will play for him. You enjoy working for him and enjoy the opportunity to have a chance to win every week. That’s what he’ll present to them. The good ones will react to that, and the ones that don’t will be gone.”

The 1973 Rams blossomed under Knox’s care, rolling to a 12-2 record in the regular season before losing to Dallas, 27-16, in an NFC divisional playoff game. But the rookie coach had his faith tested early.

“I remember his first year,” Olsen said. “We were getting the hell kicked out of us in the (exhibition) season. The press was going crazy with, ‘Who is this guy?’ and, ‘What’s he trying to do?’

“He had taken the team back to the basics, and they said he couldn’t win with that kind of football. It was a test of Knox’s ability to believe in himself. But he called us together and said, ‘What we’re doing is right and we’re going to continue to do it because when we start doing it better, we’re going to win.’

“And of course, we did. I guess that kind of test of will comes to all coaches at some time. But for Knox, it was especially critical because it was his first time of having the responsibility as head coach.”

Knox stuck to his guns, and the Rams won 12 games twice and 10 games three times en route to five division titles during his five seasons as coach.

It wasn’t until his third year in Buffalo that the Bills, who had only five victories in two seasons before Knox took over, won the AFC East. Then it was back to the quick fix as the Seattle Seahawks made their first playoff appearance in Knox’s first year as coach.

Now the Rams are betting history can repeat one more time.

Times staff writer Steven Herbert contributed to this story.