Around the NFL: Expect Cowher to leave Steelers

Today is likely the last you will see of coach Bill Cowher on the Steelers sideline.

By JOANNE KORTH
Published December 31, 2006

Say goodbye.

Today is likely the last you will see of coach Bill Cowher on the Steelers sideline. No more jutting jaw. No more flying spit. The man whose face became a symbol of his tough-as-nails team will announce this week whether he plans to return in 2007.

Word is, he will not.

So will end the NFL's longest current tenure and ninth longest all-time at 15 seasons.

Most teams change coaches regularly. Not the Steelers.

The Rooney family, which has owned the team since it was founded in 1933, believes stability is the cornerstone of a successful franchise. Before Cowher was hired in 1992, Chuck Noll coached the Steelers for 23 seasons.

Having won Super Bowl XL last season after several near misses, Cowher is ready to move on. His wife and high-school-aged daughters moved to Raleigh, N.C., for this past school year, and the family does not want to spend another season apart.

The Steelers got off to a 2-6 start in defense of their Super Bowl championship but rallied to play pretty good football in November and December. Knowing the foundation remains solid will make it easier for Cowher to walk away.

Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis, hired by Cowher to be his first linebackers coach, could be the last to coach against Cowher with the Steelers.

"It is going to be special," Lewis said. "And if it is his last game, it will be a dog-gone shame. What he has done is unparalleled; to be the head coach there for 15 seasons like that and to have the success right from the start - and all the fine players and teams and how hard they play for him.

"I would be very honored."

Already, Pittsburgh players are discussing possible successors, lobbying the Rooney family to promote from within if Cowher leaves. Offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and offensive line coach Russ Grimm are considered strong candidates.

"Of course, you would love to stay in house," receiver Hines Ward said. "The transition ... the coaching staff knows you, and you see some of the same faces."

But not the face.

Ward and linebacker Joey Porter, in their ninth and eighth seasons, respectively, have played their entire career for the same head coach, a rare occurrence in today's NFL.

"In this business, players and coaches come and go," Ward said. "If Cowher stays, everybody in the city will love it. If he goes, every man has his right to leave and go on to do other things. We as players appreciate the time we've had with him."

Of course, that doesn't mean Cowher's coaching career is over.

He is 49, and once the youngest of his three daughters, now a sophomore, goes to college in two years, he surely will get the itch to return to the NFL sideline.

Maybe even sooner.

"He's too good of a coach to hang it up forever," Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said. "I'm sure he'll be back. Whether he's back with Pittsburgh next year or not, he'll be back in this league at some point."

Eventually, we will get used to seeing Cowher in another team's colors, barking at another team's players, bussing the cheeks of another team's stars.

But it will take time.

Joanne Korth can be reached at korth @sptimes.com or 727 893-8810.

[Last modified December 30, 2006, 23:20:00]