CHUCK NOLL
A legacy beyond winning Super Bowls
Chuck Noll is certainly well known as the Hall of Fame coach who helped turn the Steelers into an NFL powerhouse, leading the franchise to a remarkable four Super Bowl wins in just six years. Chuck, a man of few words, remains to this day the standard by which all others who coach the Black and Gold will be measured.
But what you may not know is Chuck Noll’s critical role in helping to dramatically increase the understanding of concussions, and pioneered important changes to testing concussions in athletes. His inquisitive mind ultimately led to substantial safety changes across many different sports and levels of competition.
In an era when little was known about concussions, Noll’s commitment to the well-being of his players led to a breakthrough. In 1990, when one of those players had to sit out because of a concussion, Noll asked Dr. Joseph Maroon, the Steelers’ neurosurgeon, to look into head injuries and their effects.
Dr. Maroon ultimately teamed up with Mark Lovell, PhD, and Micky Collins, PhD to create a baseline test for determining the cognitive effects of concussions, the forerunner of what would become the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (IMPACT). The IMPACT Test is today used to monitor athletes’ concussions worldwide. Thanks to Chuck Noll, players today have a medically sound scientific objective method of determining when it is safe to return to play.
The Chuck Noll Foundation for Brain Injury Research is proud to honor the memory of a true innovator for his lasting contribution to player safety by naming our organization after him.
The ImPACT Test
In 1990, Chuck Noll was coaching a player that had a concussion which left him unable to play. Noll began to question the guidelines that determined when it was safe for a player to return to play after a concussion. He started the conversation with renown neurosurgeon, Dr. Joseph Maroon, about evidence based criteria for knowing when a brain is healed. Noll was 20 years ahead of his time in his thinking regarding the science of brain injury. This led Dr. Maroon and neuropsychologist, Dr. Mark Lovell to develop the first paper and pencil neurocognitive test that is now known to the world as the ImPACT test.
ImPACT, or Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test, is an FDA Approved online, computer-based testing program specifically designed to assess a patient’s cognitive function immediately after a suspected brain injury or concussion. There are no other FDA approved, neuropsychological tests for return to play. The ImPACT test has set the standard. The test is individualized, meaning that is based on an individual’s own baseline assessment. The Steelers were not only the first NFL time to use ImPACT, but they were the only professional team utilizing baseline neurocognitive testing. Now, the ImPACT test is widely used in the NFL, NHL and other professional sports organization. It is also used in thousands of high schools and colleges, and hundreds of youth sports organizations.
ImPACT and ImPACT Pediatric are not intended to diagnose concussions or determine appropriate treatments. It evaluates multiple aspects of neurocognitive function, including memory, attention, brain processing speed, reaction time, and post-concussion symptoms. The ImPACT and Pediatric ImPACT tools set a baseline for normal functioning brain activities. They are intended as part of the medical evaluation that doctors perform to assess signs and symptoms of a head injury.