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01-04-2007, 08:20 PM
Report: Steelers coach Cowher to resign Friday
January 4, 2007
PITTSBURGH (TICKER) -- Bill Cowher, the NFL's longest current tenured coach, reportedly will retire from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the situation, reported Thursday on its web site that Cowher is expected to announce his retirement Friday.
According to the report, Cowher was going to to wait until Monday to make his decision but did not want to delay the Steelers' search for his successor. The team has scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. EST.
The Post-Gazette reported Cowher met with Steelers chairman Dan Rooney and president Art Rooney II in Raleigh, North Carolina on Tuesday.
It also was reported that Cowher has told friends and associates he wants to spend more time with his family. His oldest daughter plays college basketball for Princeton and he has two other daughters, both teenagers.
Cowher, 49, is less than a year removed from a long-awaited Super Bowl triumph that cemented his status as one of the NFL's top contemporary coaches. He has guided the Steelers since 1992 and has one year remaining on his contract.
Pittsburgh-born and bred and known for his intensity and scowl, Cowher became just the second coach to win a Super Bowl for the city of his birth, joining George Seifert of San Francisco.
But after guiding the Steelers to their fifth Super Bowl title in franchise history, Cowher was unable to get the team back to the playoffs this season.
Pittsburgh went 8-8 this campaign, becoming the first Super Bowl champion to fail to make the playoffs the next season since the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Cowher came to Pittsburgh in 1992, succeeding Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll, who went 4-0 in Super Bowls.
With the Steelers, Cowher compiled a 161-99-1 overall record, including 149-90-1 in the regular season. Only 10 coaches in NFL history have won 130 or more games with one team.
During Cowher's tenure, the Steelers made six trips to the AFC championship game, won eight division titles and garnered 10 playoff berths. He also took the Steelers to the Super Bowl in 1996, when they lost to Dallas.
Only three active coaches - Marty Schottenheimer, Bill Parcells and Joe Gibbs - have won more games than Cowher. Since the advent of the Super Bowl, only Bud Grant of the Minnesota Vikings spent more time (17 years) with the same team without winning a championship before Cowher accomplished the feat.
If Cowher does indeed leave, the Steelers will have just their third coach since 1969.
Always run like a family business under the Rooneys, the Steelers almost certainly will stay in-house to fill their coaching vacancy.
Offensive line coach Russ Grimm and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, both of whom are candidates around the league, also could be in line for the Pittsburgh job.
Updated on Thursday, Jan 4, 2007 7:57 pm EST
January 4, 2007
PITTSBURGH (TICKER) -- Bill Cowher, the NFL's longest current tenured coach, reportedly will retire from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the situation, reported Thursday on its web site that Cowher is expected to announce his retirement Friday.
According to the report, Cowher was going to to wait until Monday to make his decision but did not want to delay the Steelers' search for his successor. The team has scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. EST.
The Post-Gazette reported Cowher met with Steelers chairman Dan Rooney and president Art Rooney II in Raleigh, North Carolina on Tuesday.
It also was reported that Cowher has told friends and associates he wants to spend more time with his family. His oldest daughter plays college basketball for Princeton and he has two other daughters, both teenagers.
Cowher, 49, is less than a year removed from a long-awaited Super Bowl triumph that cemented his status as one of the NFL's top contemporary coaches. He has guided the Steelers since 1992 and has one year remaining on his contract.
Pittsburgh-born and bred and known for his intensity and scowl, Cowher became just the second coach to win a Super Bowl for the city of his birth, joining George Seifert of San Francisco.
But after guiding the Steelers to their fifth Super Bowl title in franchise history, Cowher was unable to get the team back to the playoffs this season.
Pittsburgh went 8-8 this campaign, becoming the first Super Bowl champion to fail to make the playoffs the next season since the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Cowher came to Pittsburgh in 1992, succeeding Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll, who went 4-0 in Super Bowls.
With the Steelers, Cowher compiled a 161-99-1 overall record, including 149-90-1 in the regular season. Only 10 coaches in NFL history have won 130 or more games with one team.
During Cowher's tenure, the Steelers made six trips to the AFC championship game, won eight division titles and garnered 10 playoff berths. He also took the Steelers to the Super Bowl in 1996, when they lost to Dallas.
Only three active coaches - Marty Schottenheimer, Bill Parcells and Joe Gibbs - have won more games than Cowher. Since the advent of the Super Bowl, only Bud Grant of the Minnesota Vikings spent more time (17 years) with the same team without winning a championship before Cowher accomplished the feat.
If Cowher does indeed leave, the Steelers will have just their third coach since 1969.
Always run like a family business under the Rooneys, the Steelers almost certainly will stay in-house to fill their coaching vacancy.
Offensive line coach Russ Grimm and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, both of whom are candidates around the league, also could be in line for the Pittsburgh job.
Updated on Thursday, Jan 4, 2007 7:57 pm EST