Cowher outlasts them all
When Bill Cowher was hired as a 34-year-old coach of the Steelers in 1992, he entered a fraternity that included future Hall of Famers such as Don Shula and Marv Levy, a couple of busts named Ray Handley and Dave Shula, and 23 others.
Cowher has outlasted them all. In case you didn't know by now, that famous jaw is made of granite, not glass.
In a sport ruled by impatient owners, who often are millionaires behaving like fantasy-football geeks, Cowher is the symbol of stability. So are the Steelers, who have employed only two coaches since 1969. In the same span, the Jets have said hello and goodbye to 15.
Glaciers move faster than the Steelers, but maybe that explains their success. For them, Super Bowl XL stands for Extra Longevity.
"I really feel that when you change coaches, it's almost like you're an expansion team, starting over again," Steelers owner Dan Rooney said after capturing the AFC championship Jan. 22 in Denver.
While the Steelers were in the midst of their improbable playoff run — the first sixth seed in history to reach the Super Bowl — 10 other franchises were looking for head coaches. As Rooney might say, nearly one-third of the NFL is starting over.
"I count my blessings," Cowher said recently, when reminded of the upheavals. "We're a very stable organization. I feel very fortunate to be where I am. When those things happen, it reminds me of that."
Cowher, born and raised in Pittsburgh, joined the legendary Paul Brown as the only coaches in NFL history to earn a postseason berth in each of his first six seasons. But adversity hit in 1998, and the Steelers began a slump of three straight nonplayoff seasons. It hit harder in 2003, when they dropped to 6-10.
The zealous fan base got impatient, calling for Cowher's head. Fans demanded that Rooney make a move. So he did, but it wasn't what they expected.
He gave Cowher a contract extension through 2007.
"I never felt he couldn't do it at anytime," said Rooney, whose beloved team faces the Seahawks for the NFL championship.
Rooney inherited the patience gene from his father Art Rooney Sr., the late patriarch of the Steelers. The elder Rooney hired Chuck Noll in 1969 and, after only 12 wins in three years, the fans were grumbling. But he refused to bail out on Noll, and you know how it turned out — four Super Bowl titles.
Jets scouting consultant Dick Haley, who played for the Steelers and worked in the player-personnel department for 21 years, said the organization's stability is the byproduct of Art Sr.'s patience."He was probably too patient with too many coaches prior to Chuck Noll," said Haley, who was there during the halcyon decade of the 1970s. "A couple of early years with Chuck weren't real good, but he stayed with him. All of a sudden, it turned around. Even when things turned back in the '80s and '90s, they didn't deviate. It pays off."For the Rooneys, football is the family business. Dan succeeded his father as the team president in 1975 after the first Super Bowl win. His son, Art II, took over in 2002 and can earn his first Super Bowl ring as president, as his father and grandfather did."I give a lot of credit to the stability this organization has, has had, and will have even after I go," said Cowher, one of 10 coaches to win at least 130 games with one team. "It starts at the top. We're all kind of one little spoke in the wheel, to be honest with you."The Steelers haven't won a Super Bowl under Cowher. If he were a golfer, he'd have the dreaded "best-player-who-hasn't-won-a-major" title. But this might have been his finest coaching effort, one that took a team on the verge of falling out of contention at 7-5 and producing a seven-game winning streak.Cowher said "nothing drives me more" than to hand the Lombardi Trophy to Dan Rooney. The players say nothing drives them more than to see their coach finally win the Big One."It's just great that we're able to win and give him another crack at that elusive Super Bowl ring," Jerome Bettis said.They used to say the same thing about Noll and Art Rooney Sr., back in the day.
