You should, but apparently don’t, know that Cowher did not retire immediately upon winning the super bowl. It really wasn’t all that long ago that he was standing on the sidelines catching Michael Vick and laughing, even though Vick had just ripped off a 20 yard run in a game at Atlanta that the Steelers were in the midst of losing. He was spared a losing season only because we got the Bengals for the last game of the year.
I felt like we were in a position to be a dynasty team again, whereas Cowher spent the season breathing a big sigh of relief and thinking about a cushy desk job.
FYI , I live near Raleigh and the talk here is that his wife’s cancer was a recent issue, it was not why he quit coaching. She was healthy when he quit.
Just not the Ravens. Just not the Ravens. Just not the Ravens. Anywhere else: let the spittle fly and good luck to you sir. Except for the bitter end of the Kordell era, I have no problems with how he coached the Steelers. I wish him all the best unless he goes to coach Stabbin’ Ray and the rest of the Shitbirds.
I’m glad to see you are all rational human beings. I don’t get the hard line view of my wife. I don’t want to see him coach in the division, because I like to think of him fondly for giving me the first Super Bowl of my memory (I was 2 and 3 respectively for Super Bowl XIII and XIV, which I obviously don’t remember). If he’s in the division, I will be forced to hate watching him on the sidelines, and I don’t want to do that. It did quite piss me off with the Carolina horn incident against the Pens, but I’m over it.
You know, I sort of agree with one thing in the first paragraph of this post.
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I don’t know how many people know this, but Cowher comes from the coaching tree of Marty Schottenheimer, one of the worst playoff coaches of all time. In big games, Cowher was always tight, and coached not to lose instead of to win. That’s a big difference in approaches. Marty does the same thing, which is why he got fired after a 14-2 season in San Diego. An early exit from the playoffs. Cowher had one thing most coaches do not. He had Dan Rooney to stand behind him instead of punting him.
As for the second paragraph of the post… uh, really? Didn’t he go to college in North Carolina and meet his wife there? She is from there, correct? Why would Cowher act any other way than how he did? If he can endear himself to the Carolina franchise, land that job and move his family there, he did a good job of making a connection with the sports fan down there. If my dream job was the Carolina job, I would have done the same thing, and I love the Pens!
I knew that Cowher came up under the influence of Schottenheimer (another Pittsburgh guy, of course). I didn’t really connect their playoff experience though. I’ll buy your argument, although my take on it was that Cowher achieved overall good records via emotional motivation, but that he lacked game-planning and strategic skills (i.e. intellect) necessary to win when it really mattered. He went 1 and 4 in home AFC championship games, for chrissakes.
Yes, really. Pittsburghers expect that people will move away from town (and that most of them will ultimately move back). There’s no problem with meeting one’s wife or getting a job elsewhere. How else could we expect to spread Steeler Nation so far and wide? We also expect a lasting loyalty though (again, Steeler Nation). I was born in Pittsburgh, but grew up in St. Louis, for instance. You don’t see me with any Cardinals World Series paraphernalia. If he wants to become a fan of other cities and other teams, more power to him. Doesn’t mean I’ve got to feel warm and tingly for him when he does.
I was a big fan of Cowher when he coached the Steelers, but I have to say that there were way too many times I thought that they lost because the coaches were not going for the win, but instead were trying not to lose.
I grew up with Cowher. He’s the only coach I’d ever known until Tomlin came. He’s *my[/I coach. ]But as long as he’s coaching with a team that I don’t care about (Carolina, Miami, etc), then more power to him. Coaching those teams is no different, to me, than him coaching baseball, as those teams don’t really exist.
If he coaches a team I like (I have an inexplicable soft spot for Seattle, for example) I wish him the best. If he goes to one I dislike, say, Dallas…ugh. Nice to see you back and we will stomp you. Might be interesting for us to play a team coached by him, though, just cause he’s so tied to the team for many people.
From another perspective, I’m a Giants fan and I have mixed feelings about the possibility of the organization giving Tom Coughlin the boot in favor of Cowher. Cowher’s a legend, yes, but Coughlin’s done some really great things for our team and he’s undeserving of the axe.