Cowher Expected to Step Down...Steelers to hold PC tomorrow

[Hostile]

Updated: Jan. 4, 2007, 3:32 PM ET
Cowher expected to leave Steelers after 15 seasons

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

Operating on a timeline established during a Tuesday morning meeting with Steelers ownership, Bill Cowher will return to Pittsburgh next Monday to reveal plans for his NFL future.

Cowher

The consensus among high-ranking team officials, and sources around the NFL, is that Cowher will retire as coach of the Steelers after 15 seasons. In fact, it will be stunning if Cowher returns to the team to fulfill the final year of his current contract.

The reason? Ostensibly to spend more time with his family.

There has been rampant speculation since last May, when it was revealed that Cowher and his wife had purchased a home in Raleigh, N.C., that 2006 would be his last season with the team.

That speculation was fueled when contract discussions between the Steelers and Cowher's representative failed to produce an extension to his deal.

He has been purposely cryptic about his plans but, in a late-season conference call with Carolina-area media, Cowher acknowledged he would resolve his status for the future shortly after the season ended.

Cowher huddled early Tuesday morning with owner Dan Rooney and team president Art Rooney II before driving to Raleigh to join his wife and the couple's youngest daughter, who lived there all season. During the Tuesday meeting, Steelers ownership did not attempt to press Cowher for a more expeditious decision on his future, and agreed that he should take some time to deliberate.

Within the Steelers' inner circle, it has been widely accepted that a decision would come early next week -- and that Cowher would likely walk away from the NFL for at least a year. One organizational source said that he felt Cowher "had one foot out the door" as early as last spring.

Cowher has conceded that, after the team's Super Bowl XL victory 11 months ago, he considered retirement.

Once his existing contract with the Steelers expires following the 2007 season, he would be free to seek employment elsewhere. If Cowher exits the game now, many believe he will explore jobs in broadcasting for the 2007 season.

Typical of Pittsburgh management, the Steelers will allow the situation to play out and will then react. Even though the Steelers slumped to 8-8 in 2006, the roster remains a talented one and the club is capable of a quick rebound.

That, plus the stability and support of ownership makes a Pittsburgh vacancy -- if there is one -- the plum job of all the current openings. Steelers management is confident, should Cowher leave, that it will find a suitable successor.

In-house candidates almost certainly would include assistant head coach Russ Grimm and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, both of whom are candidates for other current openings around the league as well. The Steelers also would interview several outside candidates.

In his 15 seasons, Cowher has compiled a 161-99-1 record, including playoff games. Under his stewardship, the Steelers have won eight division titles, earned 10 playoff berths, advanced to the conference championship game six times, appeared in two Super Bowl games and won one.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

pitts is my 2nd most hated team behind the deadskins......i wish him and his ex team the worst--sorry zoners

is it bad of me to have this attitude?

 

[BigD_95]

pitts is my 2nd most hated team behind the deadskins......i wish him and his ex team the worst--sorry zoners

is it bad of me to have this attitude?

No. I feel the same but they are my most hated team ; )

 

[EveryoneElse]

I hate the Steelers, but would love to have a real coach like Cowher.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Isn't Cowher the one who lost to . . . Barry Switzer in the Super Bowl?

 

[1fisher]

Isn't Cowher the one who lost to . . . Barry Switzer in the Super Bowl?

yep.... one of 500 coaches that could have coached the cowboys.... I could have coached that team to the SB......

 

[Hostile]

yep.... one of 500 coaches that could have coached the cowboys.... I could have coached that team to the SB......

The big difference is I think you could have done it in 1994 too.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

After 15 straight years, a season off from coaching must be just what the doctor ordered for Cowher. He'd come back re-energized

And a lot richer, no matter who hires him as HC. I heard Jim Rome today say BC isn't making even half of Holmgren's 8 mil a year salary (which of course includes just psuedo-GM duties now).

I wonder if there's any chance of Rooney paying BC like an 'elite' coach?


Nah.

 

[Yeagermeister]

After 15 straight years, a season off from coaching must be just what the doctor ordered for Cowher. He'd come back re-energized

And a lot richer, no matter who hires him as HC. I heard Jim Rome today say BC isn't making even half of Holmgren's 8 mil a year salary (which of course includes just psuedo-GM duties now).

I wonder if there's any chance of Rooney paying BC like an 'elite' coach?


Nah.

 

[1fisher]

The big difference is I think you could have done in 1994 too.

I like your way of thinking!!! :laugh2:

 

[theebs]

apparently.

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/PIT/9908320

Steelers might reveal Cowher's future Jan. 5

NFL.com wire reports



PITTSBURGH (Jan. 4, 2007) -- With Bill Cowher showing no signs of returning next season, the Pittsburgh Steelers will hold an afternoon news conference Jan. 5 and likely will begin searching for a new coach immediately afterward.

Cowher, the Steelers' coach for 15 seasons and one of the NFL's best-known figures, met with team owner Dan Rooney and president Art Rooney II on Jan. 2 and asked for a few days to weigh his future plans. However, they had an understanding there would be a decision by Jan. 8 because the Steelers have to move on if Cowher isn't coming back.

Cowher called Dan Rooney from his new home in Raleigh, N.C., to say he had made up his mind. The two sides did not discuss any contract terms, a sign Cowher will resign with one season left on his contract.

Cowher has talked of wanting to spend more time with his family, especially now that they are living out of state. Cowher's two oldest daughters are at Princeton and the youngest has only 2½ years of high school remaining, time Cowher doesn't want to spend away from her.

Two strong candidates to replace him -- offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and offensive line coach Russ Grimm -- already are in place and are interviewing with other teams. The team would interview at least one minority candidate, possibly more, and talk with several candidates outside the organization.

Cowher is in Raleigh, N.C., where his family moved last summer. There was no indication from the team that Cowher would attend the news conference.

The Steelers wanted to give him time following a disappointing 8-8 season to get away from the team. But they also don't want to wait much longer to begin looking for a new coach, since the Falcons, Cardinals and Dolphins already are seeking coaches.

The Falcons interviewed Whisenhunt, and the Cardinals plan to interview both Whisenhunt and Grimm.

All signs point to Cowher leaving.

He has never gone into a season without at least two seasons remaining on his contract. There also has been no indication from Cowher he wants to negotiate a new deal, and contract extension talks last summer did not progress past the preliminary stage.

Also, his season-ending meetings Jan. 1 with his players, which often last hours and hours, were much shorter than usual. No players were seen in the Steelers' complex past mid-afternoon and Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca said it was obvious Cowher looked ready to leave.

Cowher is the NFL's longest-tenured coach with his current team; Tennessee's Jeff Fisher, with 13 seasons, is second. Cowher is third among active coaches in regular-season victories with a 149-90-1 record and fourth overall with a 161-99-1 record counting postseason games.

Cowher initially told the Steelers last spring, after finally winning the Super Bowl for the first time following six trips to the AFC title game, that he was undecided about his future past this season.

The Steelers gave Cowher the option of returning next season and completing his current contract, but that arrangement would probably not satisfy either side. Cowher, if he coaches again, has signaled he wants to be one of the league's highest-paid coaches.

The Steelers wouldn't welcome a lame-duck coaching situation because it would create a season-long distraction, and ongoing speculation about who Cowher's successor would be.

If he wants to return to a sideline immediately, with another team and at a much higher salary, that team would have to work out compensation with the Steelers since Cowher is under contract for 2007.

The Steelers have not formally commented on Cowher's status since the season ended.

 

[theebs]

Yep he confirmed it...Bill cowher is retired, for now at least.

Cowher expected to retire Friday at news conferenceBy John Clayton
ESPN.com


Bill Cowher has informed his assistant coaches he is stepping down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers after 15 seasons.

Cowher wanted to take a week to make his decision, and the Steelers were willing to give him until next Monday or Tuesday to make a decision. But after talking over the situation with the family and the Steelers, Cowher decided to move up his announcement until Friday.

The Steelers scheduled a 1 p.m. eastern press conference to discuss Cowher's situation. Although the team did not announce a decision, the word of his resignation was delivered to his assistant coaches.

Cowher built a home in North Carolina and wanted to spend more time with his family there. Though the Steelers wanted him back, Cowher was looking for the chance to get away from the game for an indefinite period. Even though he could get his name in some of the job currently open, Cowher will not coach in 2007.

First, the Steelers control his contractual rights through the 2007 season. Any team wanting him to coach would have to offer the Steelers a bounty of draft choices to get the rights to talk to him.

Second, Cowher doesn't want to coach in 2007. Apparently, his decision doesn't have much to do with money. He is indeed going to take this season off and relax although it's not out of the question for him to do some television work. Cowher is expected to be working this weekend for a network, an arrangement he made several weeks ago.

Cowher finished 161-99-1 in his 15 seasons with the Steelers. Thanks to Cowher and Chuck Noll, the Steelers have had one of the most stable coaching situations in the NFL.

Offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and assistant head coach Russ Grimm are among the leading candidates for the Steelers job.

By making his decision known Friday, Cowher gives the Steelers the ability to talk to some of the assistant coaches currently in the playoffs. The NFL gives teams looking for head coaches until Sunday night to set up and conduct interviews with coaches currently in the playoffs. That could put the Steelers in position to talk to Cam Cameron of the Chargers and Ron Rivera of the Bears among other assistants.

The Steelers will meet Friday morning to discuss replacements.

 

[kingwhicker]

I hope whomever they hire ruins them.