Bill Cowher

At 66 years old, Bill Cowher has this physical status:

William Laird Cowher (born May 8, 1957) is a retired American football coach and player in the National Football League (NFL).

The Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach, John Cowher, has won eight division titles and made 10 playoff appearances in his 15 seasons.

Cowher led the Steelers to the Super Bowl twice, winning one.

He is the second coach in NFL history to reach the playoffs in each of his first six seasons as head coach, a feat previously only accomplished by Paul Brown.

Cowher resigned as the Steelers' head coach on January 5, 2007, 11 months after winning Super Bowl XL over the Seattle Seahawks in 2006.

Mike Tomlin, the new Steelers' head coach, had the Cowher fired.

Cowher served as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs before being hired by the Steelers in 1992.

He is now a studio analyst for The NFL Today.

Early life

Cowher, a suburb of Pittsburgh, excelled in football, basketball, and track for Carlynton High. In his senior year at NC State, he was a starting linebacker, team captain, and team MVP. He earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1979.

Personal life

Kaye (née Young), a North Carolina State University alumnus, and her twin sister, Faye, played for basketball for the New York Stars of the (now defunct) Women's Pro Basketball League. Kaye was featured in the book Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978–1981, by Karra Porter (University of Nebraska Press, 2006). Kaye Cowher died of skin cancer at the age of 54 on July 23, 2010. Meagan, Lauren, and Lindsay were three children of the couple. Meagan and Lauren played basketball at Princeton University. Lindsay played basketball at Wofford College before transferring to Elon University. From the Pittsburgh suburb of Fox Chapel, the Cowher family migrated to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2007. Kevin Westgarth, a former NHL forward, was married by Meagan in 2011. Lindsay married former NBA forward Ryan Kelly of the Atlanta Hawks on August 2, 2014.

In 2014, Cowher married Veronica Stigeler. Since announcing that he will be moving to New York full time, Cowher put his Raleigh home in North Ridge Country Club up for auction in 2018.

Cowher and his wife reported positive for COVID-19 in July 2020.

In 2021, Cowher co-authored Heart and Steel, an autobiography.

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Professional career

Cowher began his NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1979 but with the Cleveland Browns the following year. Cowher spent three seasons (1980–82) in Cleveland, making him a member of the Kardiac Kids, before being traded back to the Eagles, where he played two more years (1983–84). During his time in Philadelphia, Jeff Fisher (who later became the head coach of the Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Rams) was tackled, causing Fisher to break his leg. Fisher has credited his injury at Cowher with prompting him to teach.

Throughout his playing career, Cowher primarily played special teams; later, he honed the emphasis on special teams in his coaching career. Cowher attributes his playing career to being a "bubble player" throughout his coaching career, implying that such players work the hardest for a roster spot (and in some cases get cut, hence the term "bubble player"), and thus make more effective head coaches than those with more successful playing careers.

Coaching career

Cowher began his teaching career in 1985 under Cleveland Browns head Marty Schottenheimer at the age 28. Cowher, who had played for Schottenheimer in Cleveland before Schottenheimer was the team's defensive coordinator, said he took a coaching job despite losing a significant pay cut from what he would have earned as a player limited and saw more of a future as a coach.

Before Schottenheimer to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989 as special teams coach, he served as the Browns' special teams coach in 1985–86 and secondary coach in 1987–88. He was a candidate for the Cincinnati Bengals head coaching job in 1991 after Sam Wyche's dismissal, but Dave Shula was rejected in favour of Dave Shula, who appeared to them in the same way as their respective fathers (Don Shula and Paul Brown) overshadowed them in several ways.

When he took over Chuck Noll in 1970, he became the team's second head coach since the NFL union in 1970, but he lost to Pitt alumnus and eventual Pitt head coach) Dave Wannstedt (Wannstedt). The Steelers showed an immediate improvement from their dismal 7–9 season last season, going 11–5 and winning home-field advantage in the AFC after the Steelers had missed the playoffs six times in the previous seven years under Cowher. He was the youngest coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl in 1995, at the age 38. Cowher is the second coach in NFL history to lead his team to the playoffs in each of his first six seasons as head coach, joining Pro Football Hall of Fame member Paul Brown.

In Cowher's 15 seasons, the Steelers won eight division titles, earned ten playoff appearances (including six straight in his first six seasons), participated in 21 playoff games, advanced to six AFC Championship games, and made two Super Bowl appearances. He is one of only six coaches in football history to win at least seven division titles. The Steelers had the best record in the NFL since Cowher was hired as head coach at the start of the 2005 season.

Cowher's Pittsburgh Steelers claimed Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21–10, giving Cowher his first Super Bowl ring. Cowher's teams had a record of 108–1–1 in games in which they had a lead of at least 11 points for at least 11 points, including the Super Bowl.

Cowher resigned after 15 years as the Steelers head coach on January 5, 2007. In the playoffs, Cowher's record as a head coach was 161–991. Mike Tomlin took his place.

Bill Cowher was informed live on CBS pregame show that he would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Centennial class by its president David Baker on January 11, 2020.

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