Kaye Cowher, wife of Bill Cowher, loses battle with skin cancer

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Kaye Cowher, wife of former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, died Friday in her native North Carolina after losing a battle with skin cancer. She was 54.

The Cowhers met when they were classmates at North Carolina State University in 1976. The Cowhers have three daughters: Meagan, Lauren, and Lindsay.

For the last three years, Bill Cowher has worked as a studio analyst for CBS Sports on its NFL Today show.

Jets to speak with Cowher

According to the Associated Press, the New York Jets plan to speak with Bill Cowher about their vacant head coaching position ... and Cowher is receptive to talking. As we know, Cowher has a daughter who attends Princeton University, which is not terribly far from the Jets' new practice facility. Click here to read the AP report.

Cowher says no to Browns

Browns owner Randy Lerner met with former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher on Saturday night. Cowher told him he was not interested in coaching the Browns in 2009. See Pro Football Weekly for details.

Cowher to coach Browns, if the price is right?

Today's "Scout's Eye" in Pro Football Weekly asserts that there's a good chance that Bill Cowher would take the now vacant head coaching job in Cleveland, assuming the Browns are willing to make him the highest-paid coach in the NFL.

Odds of Cowher becoming Cleveland's next head coach? "50/50"

According to the "The Way We Hear It" column in today's edition of Pro Football Weekly, the odds of Bill Cowher becoming Cleveland's next head coach are "50/50" and "money will be no object," according to one team insider. The column notes that the team's second choice is Marty Schottenheimer, who led Cleveland to two AFC Championship Game appearances back in the 1980s.

Click here to read the column.

Talking trash: The, uh, forthcoming Plaxico Burress book

“Giant: The Road to the Super Bowl” (in bookstores July 1) is the literary equivalent of listening to Plaxico Burress speak — for 200-plus pages. In other words, Burress has nothing to say, and what he does try to say, is like, half-baked and incoherent. I feel sorry for all the English, writing and communications professors at Michigan State University (where Burress went to college), who must have shuddered when they heard that Plaxico Burress received a book deal. I feel sorry for aspiring authors everywhere, who now have to live with the fact that Plaxico — of all people! — has a book and they don’t. Most importantly, I feel for the children, all the young, impressionable minds who will have the misfortune of being exposed to this material. It’s an entire book filled with sentences like this one: “My first time taking the SAT was like 630 or 620 or something.”

Anyway, the only chapters of any real interest to Pittsburgh fans are four and five (“School Daze: Getting a Rep” and “Starting in Steeltown”), both of which reinforce my feeling that the Steelers should never have selected Burress with the eighth pick of the 2000 draft. While it’s not necessarily news to the Pittsburgh faithful, Plax does confirm that he failed to show up for his private pre-draft workout with Bill Cowher: “I was supposed to meet with [the Steelers] at two in the afternoon. But I slept through it. I got a call from Coach Cowher that afternoon and he said, ‘We missed you, what happened? I flew all the way [to Michigan] to see you work out.’ I said, ‘Coach, my bad, I’m just dead tired.’” That alone should have been enough for the Steelers to go in another direction, as it foretold his future in Pittsburgh (“I would be late to meetings all the time”; “When I lived in Pittsburgh … it was a party all the time”). He also openly discusses his “six homeboys from Virginia Beach,” the posse he supported during his first few years in Pittsburgh: (“I’ve seen them guys pull guns and shoot at people,” he says. “I’ve seen them beat guys with bats and things like that….”) With all these distractions, it’s no wonder Plax failed to live up to expectations while he played for the Steelers.

Cowher to replace Gibbs?

With Joe Gibbs resigning from his position as head coach of the Washington Redskins, Bill Cowher is certain to get a call from Redskins' owner Dan Snyder. Will Cowher come back to coach the Redskins? It seems a good bet, for at least two reasons. First, Washington isn't far from Cowher's Carolina home. Second, Snyder would probably be willing to pay Cowher the big money he is looking for. And it wouldn't be easy for Bill - or anyone, for that matter - to walk away from eight to ten million dollars a year.

Should Tomlin start Roethlisberger?

Last season Bill Cowher and the Steelers' medical staff let Ben Roethlisberger come back too quickly after both the appendectomy and the concussion he suffered against the Falcons. It cost them the game at Oakland and arguably the game at Jacksonville as well. So if Big Ben is "questionable" to start against the Jags tomorrow I would hope that Mike Tomlin leans against starting him.

First, the Steelers need a relatively healthy Roethlisberger to make any noise in the post-season; he's not going to get any healthier facing the Jags' fierce defense. And don't forget that the Steelers play again just four days after the Jags game, which doesn't leave him much time to recover for that matchup. Also, backup Charlie Batch has proven he can play effectively and win games coming off the bench.

Finally, a big factor that never gets mentioned is: If Tomlin starts Batch and the offense sputters he can always bring Roethlisberger on in relief, potentially giving the crowd and the team a big lift. If Big Ben starts and the offense is ineffective (as was the case in the 9-0 loss at Jacksonville last year), it will be very, very difficult for Tomlin to pull Roethlisberger in favor of Batch. As a Super Bowl-winning franchise QB, Roethlisberger has long since earned the right to play through any struggles he or the offense might experience.

Let's hope Tomlin doesn't make the same mistakes Cowher made in terms of allowing an injured Roethlisberger to start.

Steelers v. Patriots: Line now at 10.5 points

The opening line on the Steelers/Patriots game was 13.5 points, but over the course of the week it has fallen to 10.5 points. It has been a long time since the Steelers have faced odds like this. The Steelers were 12.5 point underdogs for Bill Cowher's first game, way back in September 1992 - a game the Steelers won, 29-24.

Another historical note worth mentioning: The 1984 San Franciso 49ers finished 18-1 and won the Super Bowl that year. The 49ers' only loss came against the Steelers at Candlestick Park.

Thankful for Big Ben? Me too.

In an earlier post The Steelyard provided a sneak preview of the new Dan Rooney book, "My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL" (Da Capo), in which Rooney lets it slip that he intervened to make sure the Steelers drafted Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th pick of the 2004 draft (instead of OT Shawn Andrews, who Bill Cowher apparently preferred). Thank goodness Rooney stepped in and backed Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert, who also championed Roethlisberger. This pivotal decision enabled the Steelers to win a Super Bowl, and may well afford the organization the opportunity to win more Super Bowls in the next six or eight years.

Interestingly, it seems like many Steelers' fans underestimate the value of Big Ben. It's hard to fathom how fans can criticize him and say things like, "Big Ben makes me crazy sometimes" or "He makes too many mistakes." Have these fans lost their minds? Or have they simply become spoiled? I'll go on record right now and say that Roethlisberger is already the best QB in franchise history. In this era he may never win four Super Bowls like Terry Bradshaw did but that doesn't change the fact that he has been better ... sooner ... than just about any QB in NFL history. His career record is 39-14 (which rivals the winning percentage of Tom Brady) and if one eliminates the 2006 (accident-appendectomy-concussion) season he's lost a grand total of only six starts (32-6). His career yards per attempt is among the best in NFL history and his post-season record is 5-1. Like every NFL QB he throws interceptions from time to time, but what goes unmentioned is that he fumbles the ball much less often than other QB's. And, as columnist Stan Savran explains in "Thankful for Big Ben", he makes the talent around him look better than it really is.

I think the Steelers have to be concerned that his career may be relatively short, thanks to the cumulative effect of the injuries he has suffered. But let's make no mistake: Big Ben is on course for the Hall of Fame, even if he can't get elected to a Pro Bowl.

Advance word on forthcoming Rooney book

Last week The Steelyard received an advance reading copy of Dan Rooney’s forthcoming book, “My 75 Years With the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL” (Da Capo), scheduled to hit stores on November 5. Longtime Steelers’ fans probably won’t glean a whole lot of new information, although there are certainly some interesting bits about past drafts and personnel changes. For instance, concerning the Bill Cowher-Tom Donahoe spat, Rooney writes, “Bill didn’t want Donahoe in the coaches’ meetings because he thought Tom was a spy. Tom thought Bill was finished as an NFL head coach.” Pretty strong words from both sides, don’t you think?

But to me the most interesting item concerns the 2004 draft. Rooney writes that with Eli Manning and Philip Rivers off the board early in the first round “our people seem to have focused on Shawn Andrews, a big offensive tackle from Arkansas as our likely number-one pick…. But when out turn came, I couldn’t bear the thought of passing on another great quarterback prospect the way we had passed on Dan Marino in 1983, so I steered the conversation around to [Ben] Roethlisberger. After some more talk, we came to a consensus and picked Roethlisberger.”

All I can say is, Way to go, Dan! It would have been foolish to take a right tackle over Big Ben, especially since the Steelers were badly in need of a long-term solution at the QB position. I’ve always believed that when a team has a chance to select a potential franchise quarterback it has to seize the opportunity--particularly a team like the Steelers, which rarely has a chance to select in the top 10 of the draft. In my opinion, the Steelers have been too quick to pass on quarterbacks over the years. For instance, back in 2000 the Steelers had the opportunity to trade the 8th overall pick (used to take Plaxico Burress) for two of the Jets’ first-round picks (one of which could have been used on Chad Pennington). Selecting Pennington would have been a worthwhile risk back in the Kordell Stewart era.

Remembering Cowher's Debut

With Mike Tomlin's first regular season game as Steelers' head coach now less than a week away it seems appropriate to recall Bill Cowher's head coaching debut, which took place on September 6, 1992 at the Astrodome versus the Houston Oilers. Cowher's charges got off to a very slow start, falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, allowing a fumble recovery for touchdown and a Warren Moon touchdown pass. But the momentum changed when the Steelers successfully executed a fake punt and RB Barry Foster subsequently scored on a one-yard run. (At his farewell press conference earlier this year Cowher admitted that he tried to call off the fake punt but failed to do so). The Steelers went on to shut out the high powered Houston offense in the second half and vanquished the heavily favored Oilers, 29-24. Cowher went on to win two more games (at home against the New York Jets and at San Diego) before losing at Green Bay in his fourth game.

For what its worth, Chuck Noll also emerged victorious in his debut, beating the Detroit Lions 16-13 way back in 1969.

Remembering Cowher's Preseason Debut

With Mike Tomlin's head coaching debut now just hours away it's worth looking back to see how Bill Cowher fared in his first preseason game. The final result wasn't positive, with the Steelers losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 35-33 at Three Rivers Stadium. If I remember correctly, the game came down to the final play (a missed field goal, perhaps) and ended in controversy. As the players left the field Rod Woodson began arguing with the referee; then Cowher intervened and continued what would become the first of many post-game "discussions" with the officials.

Interestingly, Cowher's second preseason game came against tonight's opponent, the New Orleans Saints—the result a 26-0 loss. But his club rebounded to win its last two preseason games—against the Chicago Bears and New York Giants—and finished the preseason 2-2.

Another Publication Predicts Losing Season

As noted by The FanHouse, yet another national sports publication (The Sporting News) has predicted a losing season (7-9) for the Steelers in 2007. I don't understand why all the preseason prognosticators are so pessimistic.

The naysayers point to Mike Tomlin's inexperience and changes in scheme as reasons for concern, but I don't necessarily believe this will be a "transition year." Recall that Bill Cowher inherited a 7-9 team, yet in Cowher's first season the Steelers started 3-0 ("Cowher Power!"), finished 11-5, and earned the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs.

I'm not suggesting that the Steelers will win 11 games or win the AFC North in 2007, but without a doubt, Tomlin inherits a better team than Cowher did. And when it comes to head coaches, "experience" is overrated. In fact, head coaching changes often spark a team; just look at the New York Jets' experience with Eric Mangini. Finally, as The Steelyard noted in a widely circulated post (May/07), the presence of defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau gives Tomlin a very good chance to succeed.

LeBeau Gives Tomlin a Chance to Succeed

Fans may have some misgivings about the new direction of the Steelers' offense, but rest assured the team's defense is still in good hands. In fact, one could make the argument that much of Bill Cowher's success was directly attributable to Dick LeBeau, whom new head coach Mike Tomlin has wisely retained as defensive coordinator.

Consider this: In the six seasons in which LeBeau served as Cowher's defensive coordinator the Steelers compiled a 75-34 record (69% winning percentage), including a 9-4 record in the post-season. In five of those six seasons the Steelers qualified for the playoffs, reaching the Super Bowl on two occasions. In the remaining nine seasons during Cowher's 15-year reign the Steelers compiled a not-nearly-as-impressive 86-65-1 record (57% winning percentage), emerging victorious in just three of eight playoff games. Never mind the fact that the Steelers went 33-19 from 1992-94, when LeBeau served as Cowher's secondary coach. In other words, Cowher's career record without LeBeau is a mere 53-46-1.

All of this bodes well for Tomlin, who should reap the benefits of LeBeau's defensive expertise. If the new offense can hold up its end of the bargain Pittsburgh's first season under Tomlin could be more successful than most prognosticators expect.