Mike Prisuta
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, January 5, 2007
Bill Cowher is expected to end his 15-year run as head coach of the Steelers this afternoon.
The Steelers have scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference on the South Side, and the team said it is "Coach Cowher related."
Cowher's assistants were informed Thursday night he will not coach the team in 2007, the final year of his contract.
A source in Pittsburgh said the Steelers have scheduled interviews next week with their top two assistants, offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and assistant head coach/offensive line coach Russ Grimm.
NFL sources speculated the Steelers would interview a minority candidate during the weekend, possibly Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin, in accordance with NFL policy governing the hiring of head coaches.
It is anticipated leaguewide that the Steelers will work quickly to secure Cowher's replacement.
Whisenhunt, 44, interviewed with the Falcons on Thursday in Atlanta. He will interview with the Cardinals today in Arizona and the Miami Dolphins on Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Grimm, 47, is scheduled to interview with the Cardinals on Monday and will interview with the Dolphins.
Whisenhunt could have one to three offers by Sunday night.
Steelers players said they had not received confirmation of Cowher's departure but had been anticipating it since their season-ending interviews with him Monday.
Guard Alan Faneca, one of the Steelers' captains, said Cowher would be missed if the players' suspicions were realized.
"He's been the heart and soul of the team for so long," Faneca said. "We've gone as he's gone.
"We'll have to find a way to keep on going."
Cowher's decision to end his Steelers' tenure ends months of speculation fueled initially when he cryptically characterized his status as "year to year" after the conclusion of the Steelers' offseason program in June.
It was reported in February that Cowher and his wife, Kaye, had purchased a $2.5 million home in Raleigh.
The Cowher saga was heightened when he and the team failed to agree on a contract extension for the first time prior to the opening of training camp in July.
The Steelers had traditionally extended Cowher's contract whenever it had two years remaining.
At the opening of camp in July, Cowher refused to address how his wife and youngest daughter, Lindsay, living in North Carolina might affect his coaching.
Contract negotiations between Cowher and the Steelers broke off in mid-August.
"I guess it's unsettling," Faneca said. "We've been so stable for so long.
"I think there are going to be some new faces here. That's just the way I think this is going."
Cowher, 49, succeeded Chuck Noll as the Steelers head coach on Jan. 21, 1992.
He compiled a regular-season record of 149-90-1 and led the Steelers to the playoffs 10 times in 15 seasons.
The Steelers concluded the 2005 season by beating the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10, in Super Bowl XL.
They finished 8-8 in 2006, the fourth nonwinning season of the Cowher era.
The Crafton native and former linebacker/special teams player with the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles coached his hometown team with a bombastic style and an emotional edge and was embraced almost instantly by fans singing the praises of "Cowher Power."
Cowher was 34 when the Steelers hired him -- two years younger than Noll had been upon taking over in 1969. Cowher inherited a 7-9 team and turned it into an 11-5 division winner in 1992 while earning NFL Coach of the Year honors from The Associated Press.
Cowher's teams captured eight division championships, appeared in six conference championship games and played in two Super Bowls.
Cowher joined Paul Brown as the only coaches in NFL history to lead their teams into the postseason in each of their first six years in the league.
He became the youngest coach to take a team to the Super Bowl when, at 38, he guided the Steelers to Super Bowl XXX at the conclusion of the 1995 season. They lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 27-17.
Cowher's 15 seasons with the Steelers rank ninth in NFL history for continuous service with one team.
He is the NFL's longest-tenured head coach with his current team. Tennessee's Jeff Fisher is second at 13 seasons.
Cowher's career regular-season winning percentage of .632 ranks third among NFL head coaches since 1992 (minimum 50 games), behind the Indianapolis Colts' Tony Dungy (.647) and former Dallas Cowboys' Jimmy Johnson (.635),
Cowher is 13th on the NFL's all-time wins list overall at 161-99-1, one victory behind Washington's Joe Gibbs.
"He'll coach somewhere else," cornerback Ike Taylor said. "No, he ain't done. That's my opinion. The man needs some time. He's been coaching 15 years.
"He's leaving his options open. It don't take a genius to figure it out."
Mike Prisuta can be reached at mprisuta@tribweb.com.
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