Bill Cowher









Bill Cowher, 41, replaced legendary Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll in 1992, and began to carve his own niche in the NFL and the Steelers history books. In 1997 Cowher joined the famed Paul Brown with his sixth straight trip to the playoffs in his sixth season as the team's head coach. Cowher's regular-season winning percentage (64-32, .667) ties Green Bay's Mike Holmgren as the best among the NFLs active coaches with more than one season of experience, while his career record 69-38 (.645) ranks second to Holmgren (73-36,.670).


Cowher earned his 50th regular-season win Nov. 3,1996 in his 73rd game to become the eighth-fastest coach in NFL history to reach 50 wins. He also moved into second in team victories behind Noll with 57 wins during his fifth season. Last season, Cowher surpassed Ray Parker's 105 games for the second-most games (107) as the Steelers' head coach. Only Noll (366 games) guided the Steelers for a longer period.

Under Cowher's guidance, the Steelers have featured a trademark running attack and a solid aggressive defense. During his six seasons as head coach, the team has averaged a league-leading 135 rushing yards a game and stands fifth with an average of 331 yards a game in total offense. In that same period, the offense churned out 48 100-yard rushing games-second only to Detroit's 51-and gained more than 12,000 yards rushing (1 2,969) to second-ranked Buffalo (11,886).

Cowher has built a defense that mirrors his fiery attitude. In the 96 regular-season games since becoming head coach, the defense has allowed an average of 95 rushing yards a game and 192 yards passing. Their average total defense of 283 yards a game ranks second in the NFL, just two yards a game behind league-leading Dallas. During that some period, Pittsburgh has allowed only 12 running backs to surpass the 100-yard mark and ranks third in the NFL with only seven 300-yard passing games allowed.

The elements heading into 1997 didn't favor the Steelers. Ten key players departed from the previous season. A new defensive coordinator was hired. A first-year quarterback took control of the offense. Nevertheless, the Steelers overcame these obstacles to post an 11-5 record, and Cowher led his team to their third home AFC Championship game in four seasons. The Steelers' season ended with a 24-21 loss to the eventual-Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos.

While the 1996 outcome didn't compare to the Super Bowl appearance of the previous season, it might have been one of the best coaching jobs of Cowher's young career. For the second straight season, Cowher was forced to overcome losses of key starting personnel on a team that already featured a re-tooled offense. During the course of the season, the Steelers had 14 starters miss 64 starts due to injury. Those adjustments forced Cowher to play 40 different starters throughout the season.

Despite this adversity, Cowher led the Steelers to their fifth consecutive playoff berth and their fourth AFC Central title in five seasons.

In 1995, at the age of 38, the Pittsburgh-area native became the youngest head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl. Along the way, Cowher's team captured their third AFC Central Division title in four years, made their fourth straight playoff appearance, and won the Steelers' first AFC title since 1979.




The Steelers' 11-5 regular-season record was the second best in the AFC which exceeded the expectations of most. in the offseason, the team lost seven veterans through free agency and trades. They had to play four games without starting quarterback Neil O'Donnell and almost the entire season without 1994s starting cornerbacks Deon Figures and Rod Woodson, a perennial All-Pro. In addition, linebacker Chad Brown missed six games after a phenomenal start. Despite the setbacks, Cowher was able to rally his team from a near-disastrous 34 start to an NFL-best eight-game winning streak and a bye in the first round of the playoffs. This was accomplished with a major change in both offensive and defensive strategies, as the Steelers made key adjustments to compensate for their personnel losses. The 1995 Steelers led the AFC in scoring with 407 points and set eight new offensive team records. They led the NFL in time of possession (an average of 32:36). On defense, they established new team marks for fewest yards allowed rushing and fewest yards per game rushing (82.6/game). Their 22 interceptions were second most in the NFL.
Cowher was introduced as the Steelers' head coach on January 21, 1992, 26 days after the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll. At the age of 34, Cowher was two years younger than Noll was upon becoming the Steelers' head coach in 1969.

Cowher returned to his hometown following seven years as an assistant under Marty Schottenheimer in Cleveland and Kansas City. His appointment as the Steelers' head coach immediately followed a three-year stint as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Chiefs.

Cowher has 18 years of NFL experience, including five as a player, seven as an assistant coach and six as a head coach. In his 13 years of coaching, Cowher has never been associated with a team that posted a losing record. In fact, in 12 of the 13 seasons he has been a coach, Cowher's team has advanced to the playoffs. In his first year as head coach, Cowher was selected the 1992 National Football League's Coach of the Year by the Associated Press and The Sporting News. Cowher was also named Pittsburgh's Man of the Year in Sports by the Dapper Dan Club. He directed the Steelers to their first AFC Central Division crown in eight years with an 11 5 record, which was the team's best mark since they last won a Super Bowl in 1979. One of four AFC teams to win 11 games in 1992, the Steelers shared the best record in the conference as Cowher became one of only 12 coaches in NFL history to win 11 games in his first season as head coach.

The 1993 Steelers started slowly at 0-2, but six wins in the next seven games brought the team to a 6-3 mark and first place in the AFC Central division. On the final weekend of the regular season the Steelers claimed the final AFC wild-card berth after winning three of the lost five games. offensively, the team finished with the exact same AFC rankings as the previous year, but it improved from 21st to 13th in NFL passing rankings. The defense jumped from eighth to first in AFC total defense rankings, and from 17th to third in NFL run defense.

Cowher began his coaching career in 1985 with the Cleveland Browns. At age 28, he was the league's second-youngest assistant coach. He served on Schottenheimer's staff as the Browns' special teams coach in 1985-86 and secondary coach in 1987-88. As secondary coach, Cowher's 1987 group produced 23 interceptions to tie for third in the AFC, while in 1988 the Cleveland defense ranked fourth overall in the conference. The following year Cowher joined Schottenheimer on the Kansas City coaching staff.

In 1989, Cowher's first season as a 32-year-old defensive coordinator, the Kansas City defense led the AFC and ranked second in the NFL in total defense. The following year the unit led the league in three categories with 60 sacks, 25 tumbles recovered and 45 take aways. In 1991 the Chiefs ranked third in the conference and fifth overall in the NFL en route to a 10-6 finish and a wild card playoff berth.

A former linebacker and special teams standout, Cowher enjoyed a five-year NFL playing career with the Browns (1980-82 and the Philadelphia Eagles (1983-84). He signed with Philadelphia in 1979 as an undrafted free-agent rookie, but was the last linebacker waived in training camp after playing in three preseason games. The following year he signed with Cleveland and earned a roster spot, playing in all 16 games including two starts at inside linebacker.

Cowher sat out the 1981 campaign after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the third preseason game. Returning in 1982 as special teams captain, he started at outside linebacker in two games while playing in all nine contests.

Cowher was traded to Philadelphia prior to the start of the 1983 season (Aug. 21) for a ninth-round draft pick. He was selected the Eagles' most valuable special teams player that year and played in all 16 games. In 1984, a knee injury kept him out of all but four games and ended his career as a player. Cowher returned to Cleveland the following season and began his coaching career as a member of Schottenheimer's Browns staff.






Cowher grew up in the Crofton area west of Pittsburgh. He is a 1975 graduate of Carlynton High School, where he excelled in football, basketball and track. He was selected honorable mention All-State in football as a senior before moving on to North Carolina State, where he earned four letters and was a three-year starter at linebacker. As a senior in 1978, Cowher was selected team captain and Most Valuable Player after leading the defense in tackles for the second straight year. He also received the 1978 Cary Brewbaker Award as the school's outstanding defensive lineman as selected by the coaching staff. In 1979 Cowher graduated with a bachelor of science degree in education. William Laird Cowher was born May 8, 1957 in Pittsburgh. It was at North Carolina State that Cowher met his wife, Kaye. Also a graduate of North Carolina State, Kaye and her twin sister Faye played professional basketball for the Now York Stars of the Women's Professional Basketball League, The Cowhers have three daughters: Meagan Lyn (12), Lauren Marie (l0), and Lindsay Morgan (7).