It's time for Cowher, Steelers to part ways
Michael David Smith / FootballOutsiders.com
Posted: 1 hour ago

This is not one of those "fire the coach" columns, the kind you see every year in cities where the football team starts 2-6.

This is not a vitriol-fueled screed against a coach who has failed miserably. This is simply an argument that the relationship between Bill Cowher and the Pittsburgh Steelers has run its course.

The Steelers are 2-6, and just as he succeeded brilliantly in leading his team to the championship last season, Cowher has come up short this season. His mistakes this year have included:


In the Week 2 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cowher put Ben Roethlisberger back under center even though he was still ailing from a preseason appendectomy and even though backup Charlie Batch had played well in Week 1. Roethlisberger threw the game away with two interceptions and just 142 passing yards, and the Steelers lost 9-0.

In the Week 3 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Cowher kept Ricardo Colclough on the field as his punt returner despite Colclough's well-known butterfingers. Colclough's muffed punt set up the touchdown that gave the Bengals a lead they never relinquished.

In the Week 7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Cowher wasted Pittsburgh's second-half timeouts, first by throwing his red flag to challenge a play that was clearly ruled correctly on the field, then by trying to ice Atlanta's kicker before a late field goal attempt. At the end of regulation, Pittsburgh had the ball in field goal range but couldn't stop the clock to get the kicking unit on the field. Pittsburgh lost in overtime.

In the Week 8 loss to the Oakland Raiders, Cowher again put Roethlisberger in the lineup when he shouldn't have, this time only a week after Roethlisberger suffered a concussion in Atlanta. A dazed-looking Big Ben threw four interceptions while the healthy Batch (who, just as he had in Week 1, played brilliantly in relief of Roethlisberger in Atlanta) stood on the sidelines.
With better decision-making in those four instances, the Steelers could be 6-2 instead of 2-6. Even if things had gone their way in just half of those games, the Steelers would be 4-4 and right in the wild-card mix. At 2-6 they're playing out the string. Cowher was the toast of the NFL just nine months ago, and these mistakes don't indicate that Cowher has somehow forgotten how to coach. In fact, in-game tactical decisions have never been Cowher's strength. The genius of Cowher has always been the way players respond to him. Joey Porter, for instance, has the type of personality that on another team could turn into a Terrell Owens-type distraction. But that hasn't happened in Pittsburgh because Cowher knows how to get players with personalities that might otherwise clash to work together toward a shared goal.

This year's mistakes do indicate that he could use some time off to recharge his batteries, though. Cowher has looked less passionate and less engaged at times this season, and when he has shown emotion, it has often been misplaced. After the Steelers ran out of time in the fourth quarter in Atlanta, Cowher spent much of the period before overtime chewing out an official who had correctly called a penalty on his team. That contrasts sharply with how he acted in last year's playoff game against Indianapolis. On that day, the referee really did screw up by negating a crucial Troy Polamalu interception, but instead of complaining about the bad call, Cowher gathered his players on the sideline and told them to focus only on what they could control. Pittsburgh won, and that became Cowher's defining moment. If he can't coach the team this year the way he did in Indianapolis, Cowher ought to walk away from Pittsburgh. If he chooses not to, Steelers owner Dan Rooney should fire him.

Rooney, however, won't do that. Loyalty is important to Rooney, just as it was to his father, Art Rooney, who founded the franchise. It's no accident that Cowher, who became the Steelers' head coach in 1992, is the league's longest-tenured coach. Rooney gave Cowher a three-year contract extension in 2000, at a time that many thought he should have been fired because the Steelers were enduring a three-year stretch without making the playoffs. The Rooney family wouldn't have it any other way. Before Cowher came along, Chuck Noll coached the team for 23 seasons. When the Rooneys find a coach they like, they don't get rid of him. (Continuity has also been the hallmark of the college team 150 miles away in State College -- Penn State hired Joe Paterno three years before the Steelers hired Noll.)

But while Rooney will almost certainly not end the relationship, Cowher could. Cowher grew up less than five miles from the site where Heinz Field now stands, which would seem to make Pittsburgh the perfect place for him. But he left Pittsburgh to play football at North Carolina State, and he met his wife there. The Cowhers recently bought a home in North Carolina, and his wife and youngest daughter have already left Pittsburgh to live there.

Cowher's contract expires after the 2007 season. Speculation mounted that Cowher was thinking about leaving back in August when he and the Steelers said they had halted negotiations to extend his contract. This is the first time since Pittsburgh hired him that Cowher has coached with less than two full seasons remaining on his deal. One of his favorite former players, Jerome Bettis, said during the preseason that he thought Cowher was entering his final campaign as Pittsburgh's coach, and while Cowher said he was upset that Bettis made that statement publicly, he didn't entirely rule out the idea that he would leave after the season.

If Cowher quits, he'll leave the Steelers in good hands. An often-overlooked aspect of Cowher's career is how many high-quality assistants he has groomed. Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis is a former Cowher assistant, as are former NFL head coaches Jim Haslett, Dom Capers, Chan Gailey and Dick LeBeau. Two of his current assistants, offensive line coach Russ Grimm and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, are often mentioned as possible head-coaching candidates, and either one would make sense if the Steelers need a new coach in 2007. And although their record doesn't reflect it, this is a talented team. There's no reason they couldn't be Super Bowl contenders again next year.

And there's no reason the 49-year-old Cowher couldn't get another Super Bowl ring with another team. Fifteen years is a long time to work the kinds of hours that NFL coaches work, and he'll be a better coach in the long run if he takes some time off now. If he had known then what he knows now, is there any doubt that Cowher would have walked away in February, fresh off his Super Bowl title? There's no shame in doing it a year too late.

On an NFL Network commercial that aired last summer, Cowher joked that he wanted to start his own television show, "The Bill Cowher Power Hour," which would feature, he said, "A little comedy and a little weightlifting." Cowher would be great on TV, and that's where he should go next. After a year or two in the studio, he'll be recharged and ready to lead another team to the Super Bowl.


http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6150854?FSO1&ATT=HMA

11/10/2006 2:49:51 PM

God its such a pipe dream but WHYYYYYYYYYY cant it come true...for once let something good happen to NC State in this decade, please God.

11/10/2006 2:55:01 PM

hmm

11/10/2006 2:55:57 PM

"yes, yes, everything is working perfectly"

11/10/2006 2:58:31 PM

i knwo it is speculation and rumors and such but i know there are big time donors and alums at state that have "insider info" that cowher will be here when the amato era is over, regardless of whether it is at the end of this season or whenever the rid of him.

I would say it is a 50/50 at this point. he is aformer player. he just purchased a house here. he said he loves the raleigh area. I doubt that once he leaves puttsburgh that he is just going to quit coaching altogether and while the money wont be the same, i dont think money is an issue for him.

11/10/2006 3:31:35 PM

andddddddddd the biggest kicker is the old quote where it says

"my dream is to win a superbowl with the steelers and coach my alma mater"

so we will see if it happens.

11/10/2006 3:40:04 PM

As much as I want that to happen, the only way Cowher would EVER end up here is if he called the donors and the program and told them that he was ready to sign on the spot...and this only if we lose out.

If you think for one second that Fowler will fire chuck then you're smoking a pipe. There's no way in hell we go on another coach searching committee so seen.

11/10/2006 3:40:36 PM

i'd say it's safe to say the he is planning on living in raleigh. what he does here, though, is another story.

but MY GOD i hope he coaches here.

11/10/2006 3:45:30 PM

Quote :

"FootballOutsiders.com"

11/10/2006 3:56:51 PM

I could see us waiting until next year to see how we do and if we should fire Chuck. If we don't do well next year I could see us getting rid of Chuck if Cowher hasn't signed an extension by then.

11/10/2006 3:58:35 PM

if we lose to UNC we better fire him

11/10/2006 4:12:13 PM

if we get cowher, it will only be a matter of time before everyone starts to complain again

11/10/2006 4:31:42 PM

i will be happy for the rest of my natural life.

that said

FIRE CHUCK

11/10/2006 4:35:01 PM

just for everyone who doesn't stop about how much we complain.

we are entirely right to not like a coach who a) doesn't win games and b) regularly makes an ass out of himself and our university in the media.

fire chuck.

11/10/2006 4:38:05 PM

i wasnt disagreeing at all

fire chuck

11/10/2006 4:39:05 PM

it would certainly be fun to have a superbowl champion coach roaming the sidelines.... Wonder what the recruiting draw would be like too.... Not dropping the axe on chuck yet, but just pondering the possibilities....

11/10/2006 4:51:44 PM

I think we have been having so many bad breaks because cowher coming to state requires alot of a good break all at once.

kinda like a state GL splooge

[Edited on November 10, 2006 at 5:52 PM. Reason : sdfsdfsdfsdf]

11/10/2006 5:51:48 PM

Nothing says progress like trading your 3-6 coach for a 2-6 coach.

11/10/2006 6:45:13 PM

Quote :

"God its such a pipe dream but WHYYYYYYYYYY cant it come true...for once let something good happen to NC State in this decade, please God. "

11/10/2006 6:53:55 PM

sucks that we exhausted all of our luck in 83

maybe after 23 years, it's time for another great break.

11/10/2006 8:09:29 PM

I can't see cowher leaving pittsburgh for less money, AND having to take on extra work with recruiting and such. If the dude leaves the steelers he moves to raleigh and spends his fucking millions.

11/10/2006 11:47:11 PM

Quote :

"Nothing says progress like trading your 3-6 coach for a 2-6 coach."

Bill Cowher just said take a look down at my hand son.......



asshat

on a side note, i really don't think that this change will happen this year. I don't think that chuck will be fired this year unless we lose out and i really doubt cowher will leave pittsburgh after this year. If anything i think that we are a year away from getting him. And with the facilities, a former pro coach recruiting for his alma mater and all that jazz, i think he will take us to the national spotlight.....not to mention if there is any coach out there that can give our team some disicpline it is Bill Cowher.

[Edited on November 11, 2006 at 5:02 AM. Reason : ...]

11/11/2006 4:57:55 AM

chuck gets one more chanceyear

a total of 4 years without Philip

if he doesn't get anything done next year, he should be gone--he's had his opportunity

11/11/2006 9:29:39 AM

I'd probably donate about 20% of my paycheck every month to the WPC if we could get Cowher. It's not that much to a lot of people, but it's alot to me.

11/11/2006 10:36:35 AM

cowher at stae, davis at unc....does the state of north carolina become the powerhouse of the acc instead of florida?

11/11/2006 11:02:28 AM

Quote :

"Bill Cowher just said take a look down at my hand son......."

Listen, you guys can say "BUT HE WON A SUPERBOWL!!!" all you want, but that doesn't make him any better than the mediocre coach he is now and was before.

11/11/2006 11:08:03 AM

cream dream

11/11/2006 11:08:37 AM

^^dumb arguement

11/11/2006 11:22:41 AM

Yeah, i can tell you that there is not crazy job safety for Amato - losing out would result in firing. Hell, losing 2 of 3 would result in firing.

11/11/2006 11:30:26 AM

Cowher did pick up and play willie parker while bunting kept him on the bench....that makes him a good enough coach to me

11/11/2006 2:26:11 PM

Quote :

"Listen, you guys can say "BUT HE WON A SUPERBOWL!!!" all you want, but that doesn't make him any better than the mediocre coach he is now and was before."

we'll never get cowher

with that said, the greatest recruiting tool a coach could have is a super bowl ring

11/11/2006 3:40:39 PM

Or if his wife was Heidi Klum.

11/11/2006 5:02:27 PM