Bill Cowher was an outstanding NFL coach who will announce his retirement from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday after approximately 11 months of thinking about it.
After winning his first Super Bowl in his 14th season, Cowher knew deep down he had accomplished all he set out to do, but he somehow rationalized another season in an ill-advised attempt to repeat.
He saw the writing on the wall when he didn’t see owner Dan Rooney write a blank check to extend his contract beyond 2007. Because Cowher defeated Seattle coach Mike Holmgren and makes about half of Holmgren’s $8 million salary, he decided he might like to see more of the world than his hometown of Pittsburgh.
Cowher started by building a home in Raleigh, N.C., for his wife and daughters, beginning the long goodbye. Unfortunately for the Steelers, the moving van double-parked outside Heinz Field became a distraction for more than the coach.
Whether Cowher will continue to be an outstanding NFL coach at his next stop is the intriguing question now. Coaches always come back, often confusing greener wallets for greener pastures. At 49, Cowher is certainly younger than the big-name coaches who have preceded him in comebacks–Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson, Mike Ditka, Joe Gibbs.
Cowher averaged a Hall-of-Fame number of 10.7 victories a season for Pittsburgh largely because he was in Pittsburgh. The Steelers are as fine an organization as there is in the NFL, starting with the Rooneys, who now will be looking for their third head coach in 38 years.
Whether it’s director of football operations Kevin Colbert or former personnel man Tom Donahoe finding talent, whether it’s Chuck Noll or Cowher as head coach, whether it’s Dick LeBeau or Marvin Lewis or Tony Dungy or Tim Lewis or Russ Grimm or Ken Whisenhunt as assistant coaches, the Steelers always have a plan.
It was Buffalo’s Marv Levy who said if a coach is thinking about retirement, he already is retired. He might not know it, but he has. So it was time, past time, for Cowher.
He will be back somewhere. He’s a very good coach. The Rooneys will wish him luck. He will need it. The Steelers will manage.
