LoKyBuckeye
I give up. This board is too hard to understand.
Pissburg gives Cower an extention.... I like Cower but hate the squeelers. He is one mean looking SOB.
Steelers' Cowher agrees to two-year contract extension
By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer
July 26, 2004
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Many NFL teams have a ready solution for bad teams or bad times: Fire the coach. The Pittsburgh Steelers choose to fix matters in a different way.
They might get rid of assistant coaches or players, but the coach doesn't change.
The Steelers stayed on Monday with the steady-as-he-goes system they adopted upon coach Chuck Noll's hiring in 1969 by extending coach Bill Cowher's contract through 2007. Cowher previously was signed through 2005, but the team traditionally reworks his contract when it has two seasons remaining.
``I can't think of a better job,'' said Cowher, a Pittsburgh native. ``To me, it's not about the market or the money, to me it's about winning. ... I never could have imagined coaching another team.''
If Cowher works through the contract -- and there is nothing in recent team history to suggest he won't -- the Steelers will have had only two coaches in 39 seasons -- an astonishing run of continuity during a time when most coaches are hired to be fired.
By contrast, the Colts have had 16 coaches and the Chargers 14 since Noll's hiring, including interim coaches.
Steelers owner Dan Rooney believes it is much harder to find a reliable, proven coach than it is to locate any other element of a successful team. That has been illustrated with Cowher.
The Steelers gave him a three-year extension and a healthy raise in 2001 after they missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons -- the kind of loyalty that likely would incite fan outrage in other markets. Cowher's latest extension follows a 6-10 record in 2003 that tied for the franchise's second-worst season in 35 years; only 5-11 in 1988 under Noll was worse.
A shakeup of the coaching staff followed each of those seasons, but Noll and Cowher kept their jobs.
``We have a system where the players come and go, and the best way to deal with that is to have coaching stability,'' said team president Art Rooney II, who is Dan Rooney's son. ``We think their record has proven that's a pretty good way to go about it.''
Cowher's current deal pays him $3 million per season, and Rooney II said he was given a raise in a new contract that will keep him competitive with the league's highest-paid coaches.
The Steelers start training camp Friday following a realignment of the coaching staf.
Defensive defensive coordinator Tim Lewis was fired and replaced by Dick LeBeau, who previously held the job in the mid 1990s. Offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey left to become the Buffalo Bills' coach and was replaced by Ken Whisenhunt, formerly an offensive assistant. Offensive line coach Russ Grimm added the title of assistant head coach.
Altogether, eight of the 12 assistants were brought in from the outside or had their job descriptions change.
The team also is younger than it was last season after the release of career sacks leader Jason Gildon, tight end Mark Bruener, safety Brent Alexander and cornerback Dewayne Washington. Running back Duce Staley is the only significant veteran addition.
Cowher has a 115-76-1 record in 12 seasons, with only three losing seasons, and his seven division titles are the fifth most in NFL coaching history. His teams have reached the playoffs eight times in 12 years despite missing them four of the last six seasons.
The Steelers have played in the Super Bowl once and appeared in four AFC title games under Cowher, but the franchise has not won an NFL title since the fourth Super Bowl win under Noll during the 1979 season.
Despite having one of his youngest teams, Cowher said his goal remains the same as it was when the Steelers hired him at age 35 in 1992.
``It's about doing what I was brought here to do 12 years ago, for one of the classiest owners in the league, if not the classiest owner in league, and that's what drives me and will continue to drive me,'' Cowher said.
Cowher called not winning the Super Bowl ``the void'' in his career.
``He's at the point where he's made enough money, he's raising his family, he's been successful, and there's only one thing left to do and we feel he can do it here, and that's win a championship,'' Rooney II said. ``That's what it comes down to: Do you believe your coach can win a championship for you?''
Only eight NFL coaches have coached one team longer than Cowher has -- including Noll, who coached the Steelers from 1969-1991. Cowher's 122 career victories, counting postseason wins, are second in team history to Noll's 209 and fifth best among active NFL coaches.
Steelers' Cowher agrees to two-year contract extension
By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer
July 26, 2004
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Many NFL teams have a ready solution for bad teams or bad times: Fire the coach. The Pittsburgh Steelers choose to fix matters in a different way.
They might get rid of assistant coaches or players, but the coach doesn't change.
The Steelers stayed on Monday with the steady-as-he-goes system they adopted upon coach Chuck Noll's hiring in 1969 by extending coach Bill Cowher's contract through 2007. Cowher previously was signed through 2005, but the team traditionally reworks his contract when it has two seasons remaining.
``I can't think of a better job,'' said Cowher, a Pittsburgh native. ``To me, it's not about the market or the money, to me it's about winning. ... I never could have imagined coaching another team.''
If Cowher works through the contract -- and there is nothing in recent team history to suggest he won't -- the Steelers will have had only two coaches in 39 seasons -- an astonishing run of continuity during a time when most coaches are hired to be fired.
By contrast, the Colts have had 16 coaches and the Chargers 14 since Noll's hiring, including interim coaches.
Steelers owner Dan Rooney believes it is much harder to find a reliable, proven coach than it is to locate any other element of a successful team. That has been illustrated with Cowher.
The Steelers gave him a three-year extension and a healthy raise in 2001 after they missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons -- the kind of loyalty that likely would incite fan outrage in other markets. Cowher's latest extension follows a 6-10 record in 2003 that tied for the franchise's second-worst season in 35 years; only 5-11 in 1988 under Noll was worse.
A shakeup of the coaching staff followed each of those seasons, but Noll and Cowher kept their jobs.
``We have a system where the players come and go, and the best way to deal with that is to have coaching stability,'' said team president Art Rooney II, who is Dan Rooney's son. ``We think their record has proven that's a pretty good way to go about it.''
Cowher's current deal pays him $3 million per season, and Rooney II said he was given a raise in a new contract that will keep him competitive with the league's highest-paid coaches.
The Steelers start training camp Friday following a realignment of the coaching staf.
Defensive defensive coordinator Tim Lewis was fired and replaced by Dick LeBeau, who previously held the job in the mid 1990s. Offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey left to become the Buffalo Bills' coach and was replaced by Ken Whisenhunt, formerly an offensive assistant. Offensive line coach Russ Grimm added the title of assistant head coach.
Altogether, eight of the 12 assistants were brought in from the outside or had their job descriptions change.
The team also is younger than it was last season after the release of career sacks leader Jason Gildon, tight end Mark Bruener, safety Brent Alexander and cornerback Dewayne Washington. Running back Duce Staley is the only significant veteran addition.
Cowher has a 115-76-1 record in 12 seasons, with only three losing seasons, and his seven division titles are the fifth most in NFL coaching history. His teams have reached the playoffs eight times in 12 years despite missing them four of the last six seasons.
The Steelers have played in the Super Bowl once and appeared in four AFC title games under Cowher, but the franchise has not won an NFL title since the fourth Super Bowl win under Noll during the 1979 season.
Despite having one of his youngest teams, Cowher said his goal remains the same as it was when the Steelers hired him at age 35 in 1992.
``It's about doing what I was brought here to do 12 years ago, for one of the classiest owners in the league, if not the classiest owner in league, and that's what drives me and will continue to drive me,'' Cowher said.
Cowher called not winning the Super Bowl ``the void'' in his career.
``He's at the point where he's made enough money, he's raising his family, he's been successful, and there's only one thing left to do and we feel he can do it here, and that's win a championship,'' Rooney II said. ``That's what it comes down to: Do you believe your coach can win a championship for you?''
Only eight NFL coaches have coached one team longer than Cowher has -- including Noll, who coached the Steelers from 1969-1991. Cowher's 122 career victories, counting postseason wins, are second in team history to Noll's 209 and fifth best among active NFL coaches.
