Posted on 01/04/2007 11:35:31 PM PST by mcg2000
Bill Cowher, who led the Steelers to 10 playoff appearances, eight division titles and the fifth Super Bowl title in franchise history, will announce his resignation today after 15 seasons as head coach, sources have told the Post-Gazette.
Cowher and his wife, Kaye, are scheduled to fly to Pittsburgh this morning to attend a 1 p.m. news conference at the team's South Side facility and announce the decision that has been expected for several weeks, if not longer -- that he will resign, at age 49, to spend more time with his family.
"You'll be hearing from me soon enough," Cowher said last night from his home in Raleigh, N.C., where he has spent the past three days. He declined any further comment.
Cowher had planned to return to town and make the announcement Monday. But he called team chairman Dan Rooney -- the man who hired him to replace Chuck Noll in 1992 -- yesterday afternoon to tell him he wasn't going to change his mind and there was no point in delaying the announcement any longer.
Cowher has one year remaining on a contract that paid him between $4.5 million and $4.7 million this season. He said last week he still loves to coach and is not "burned out" from being the longest tenured head coach in the National Football League. He wants to take at least a one-year break from coaching and is not thinking about joining any other team in 2007, whether in the NFL or college football, sources said.
Those same sources also have said Cowher's decision to retire has nothing to do with money and that he is committed to spending the next year with his wife, Kaye, and youngest daughter, Lindsay, in Raleigh.
(Excerpt) Read more at postgazette.com ...
Bill's daughter is a good basketball player...she was on a team at the olympic training center last year.
I could use a year off. Good on 'im!
The Rooneys have been batting a thousand. First, Chuck Noll and then Bill Cowher. It's really doubtful that his successor will join those two in the Hall.
Hope to see you in Raleighwood Bill.
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Cowher didn't wreck Ben's motorbike or infect his appendix.
Cowher didn't make Polamalu's shoulder trouble all year.
Cowher didn't fumble the first Bengal game away on a punt.
Cowher did take a 2-6 team and keep their fire alive, resulting in a 6-2 second half. Had the Steelers been able to win one more game (say the turnover-laden Raider game or the OT game against Atlanta) they would be in the playoffs. And no one would be talking about how Cowher "quit."
ROFL!
Cowher's next coaching gig will be the Redskins, bank on it.
Cowher didn't have the fire until his last game with the Bengals. It was obvious to any who cared to pay attention.
Rats.
Even though he never quite lived up to my personal view of a head coach, I've been happy and grateful to have coach Cowher. Of course, with Chuck Noll winning 4 Superbowls, Cowher would always be "less" unless he matched that mark. Not likely.
I also have a great appreciation for the Rooney family. I'm from Pittsburgh myself, and their family reminds me of my own family. They remind me of my parents and my 12 aunts and uncles, most of whom are alas, gone now..... I truly appreciate having an ownership that believes in family tradition and standing behind your people through thick and thin.
Was Cowher conflicted this season? Yes. Did he "quit"? No more so than his team did.
How is Cowher showing enough emotion to satisfy you supposed to make Ricardo Colcough better suited for fielding punts? How does it stop Ben's cobwebs from throwing bad passes?
About a year ago in the Akron Beacon-Journal there was a column about why the Browns well, suck, and the gist of it was that the Cleveland mgmt lacks the Rooney attitude, that the Steeler organization is a family business that makes good, non-hasty decisions, builds loyal relationships and treats their employees to that end. It was a pretty scathing indictment against the Browns and written in Cleveland - the columnist probably got fired. :)
Don't even joke about that. He is headed for the Browns... please God, let him be headed for the Browns.
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