I can't explain how it happened, but my best friend is a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. We met up yesterday and I was lamenting the current Brownies coaching search, from Bill O'Brien, "losing" Marrone, and the little 7 hour love afair with Chip Kelly. Whether it is true or not, it appears in the media that we are getting hammered in this thing.
Then my friend said, I don't know why they haven't tried to hire Bill Cower....(**silence**)....yeah, I don't know they they haven't tried to hire Bill F'ing Cower. My friend went on to say besides him being a Super Bowl winning coach and all that, it would absolutely stick it to Pittsburgh and re-ignite the rivalry that has been largely dead since we rejoined the league, sans an amazing Kelly Holcomb Tommy (only XFL MVP in history) Maddox playoff game.
His name has surfaced for so many years for head coaching gigs, and now a quarter of the league is searching for a coach and to my knowledge, I haven't heard his name once. I know his wife's passing, kids age, and want to stay in North Carolina for those were all reasons keeping him off the sidelines.
I just think that Haslam is trying to run an organization like the Steelers (came from a minority ownership), he has already promised his coach quite a bit of power (attractive to a coach like Cower), and Cower is a former Brownie who at one point was at least favorable to a future return to the team in some capacity.
Lay it on me...yes, no?
Cower is the holy grail of coaches available. He's got such a good gig now though, how do you give that up?
Why tarnish his legacy and come back to coach the Browns. As this is my team I would LOVE to see it. I think his family situaton is more condusive to his current situation.
~Because we couldn't go for three~
I have always been a big fan of Cowher (as a player and assistant with the Browns, and even as coach of the hated Steelers). I think he would need a strong GM/personnel guy, so he could just coach, and I think IF he ever comes back to coaching, he would want total control, and I'm not crazy about that model.
I love Bill Cowher as a coach, and although I disliked all his success with the Steelers, I respected his run there. Would I like to have him as a head coach in Cleveland? Well, yeah sure I'd take him as the Browns coach, but I just don't get the impression that he even wants to get back into coaching. He is in a cushy position (like Gruden) doing TV and not having to worry about personnel decisions or coaching decisions or any of the other things that go with coaching. He's been out of football since 2006 and it's not like he hasn't had opportunities to come back, and he hasn't . My guess is that teams have his agent each year and he's rejected them.
Every time the Browns have a coaching vacancy (let's be honest, it's rather frequent), his name will be brought up in some capacity. If there ever really is a time when he's needed, now would be that time. As someone who roots for the Browns, I think it'd be an excellent hire. He's still young and would do wonders for a young team. But the problem is when people get into the sort of gig he's in (i.e. John Gruden), it's nearly impossible to lure them away. They make millions sitting behind a desk analying the game they love. They are sans the headaches/ulcers of dealing with a salary cap, egos of the players, game planning each week, etc. Where he currently is, he gets the luxury of being entrenched in the culture while still being involved but can keep his sanity. I think it would be very tough to pull him away from that...which is why you haven't heard his name brought up. He's probably turned down enough meetings to discuss these things over the years that teams aren't really looking to him anymore. But then again, one can always hope that some sort of spark happens.
Oh, and coming to rebuild the Browns probably isn't enticing to him either...which is a catch 22 in a way because any team that is firing a coach likely has some issues at hand (unless you're the Bears and fire a 10-6 coach) so he would likely have to deal with that. As someone stated below, maybe the Bears now get in touch with Cowher...they have pieces in place and clearly aren't all that far away. I doubt he leaves for a coaching vacancy, but I'd like to see what happens here.
Cowher is a stud, but Jimmy Johnson pretty much set the model - once you've achieved a certain level of success in the NFL, there comes a law of diminishing returns, and if you can land a well-paying, fun, less-stressful TV gig, that's the smart money. At some point "love of the game" doesn't cut it, and coaching an NFL team is, at the end of the day, a high-stress and often thankless task. Once you've got a ring, what more is there besides more rings?
Jimmy Johnson went back to the NFL with the Miami Dolphins to replace Don Shula from 1996-1999 after being out of football and working for Fox for a couple years. And then he went back to Fox. Expectations for the Dolphins were really high and although he had playoff caliber teams in all but one season there, a Super Bowl was the expecation. As a guy who left football, went into broadcasting, then returned to football, you're right, if anyone would know and understand the coaching life versus the broadcasting life, it would be him.
Does anyone have actual contract numbers for what Cowher makes at CBS?
vacuuming sucks
Haven't seen anything credible on salary data, but did find this story interesting, with Boomer telling Chicago sports talkers back in May that Cowher would likely only come out of retirement to coach the Giants or the Bears "because he's that kind of guy."
Cowher will only go somewhere where he also has control of operations in addition to being head coach.
That would be like OSU hiring Bo after Woody!
Wherever you are, there you be!
I can't stand the Shanahans, but I am obsessed about seeing what T-Rich would do in their stretch running game.
I think they should go after Kyle, he seems like a guy who I would love to punch in the face, but I love their running game, how he changed his offense to incorperate RG3, and what he did with Kirk Cousins against the Browns to make him successful.
At this point, I think Haslam would make it well worth it for Cower to leave CBS, whether that is enough to bring Cower out is another question.
Make $2mil (est) sitting in a studio critiquing everybody about what you used to do OR
Make $6-$8mil (est) coaching against the worst luck franchise in all of professional sports, and tarnishing said legacy?
Maybe I was just drunk with optimism....still, even if we know the answer is NO. I'd like to know we at least made a run.
If I remember correctly, after the Browns fired Romeo they contacted Cowher who said he wouldn't take a job with the Browns out of respect to the Rooney's for all they had done for him.
Personally i think the Browns will hire Whisenhunt, i just have a gut feeling on that one.
Would be awesome if Whisenhunt was able to get Larry Fitzgerald, too
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
I'm only a casual Browns fan these days, but I think Wisenhunt would be a great hire. The Browns have a roster that he could probably do something with.
I'm pretty sure you're spot on with why he wouldn't take a job in cleveland. The rooney family gave him his big chance, and gave him all the tools to succeed. And he feels it would be disrespectful to take a job with the browns. I can respect that.
And I've been saying it since the beginning. Andy reid was never in the mix...think there's an issue there with joe banner. Wisenhunt is the best fit for my brownies. He did a nice job in pittsburgh, and only ran into problems in arizona because the gm was an absolute idiot. The pieces are there, just need an offensive minded coach who isn't afraid to open up the offense and stay away from the dink and dunk west coast approach.
I would be happy if we hired Whisenhunt, i think he is a pretty good coach but they just had no luck at QB once Warner retired and that was their undoing. Well that and an awful OL. They really missed on a lot of guys in the draft and free agency and that really handcuffed them. As good as Fitz is, he can't carry the entire offense.
What i would like to see, but it will never happen, is for the Borwns to hire Whisenhunt and if there was any way they could bring in Beanie as a back-up to Trent that would be a win-win for me. Beanie would make too much for that to ever happen, but i can dream dammit! LOL.
We'll see what happens with the coaching search, but i would imagine the Browns will try to contact Saban and wait to see what he says before they make any moves.
Why is nobody talking about love smith? The guy did pretty well in Chicago and at least got them to a super bowl with Rex grossman
He got them to the superbowl DESPITE rex grossman. Their defense was absolutely unreal that year. And hester was an absolute stud in the return game. Lovies a good coach. But my brownies have the same issues that got him fired in chicago...no offensive consistency. Cleveland needs a coach that can untrack the offense. The defense is coming along just fine. Which is why wisenhunt is the better fit.
Rex was an MVP candidate until the Miami game when teams figured out rushing him up the middle terrified him. I like Lovie. He was an NFL coach for 9 years for a reason. The Bears needed a change but teams can do a hell of a lot worse than Lovie. He sucks as a talent evaluator and can't manage a clock but never had a team quit on him in 9 years. Even marginal talent can be dangerous in the NFL if its motivated and that's what Lovie always had-motivated teams punctuated with great super stars and otherwise meh rosters. I'd love to see him get a job somewhere, Cleveland would be happy with the play-but not the man. He's terrible with the media and comes off as really arrogant.
Great coach though.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
I like lovie as a coach. Guy seems to be able to really get the most out of his players. That works a lot better with a roster like chicago has. They have a lot of veteran guys who responded well to him, and bought into the system. Lovie has an eye for talent on defense, which would help cleveland in finishing off the defensive overhaul. But the offensive side needs the most work, and an offensiv minded coach is more prudent and fitting to the needs of the team as is.
Isn't the owner a diehard Pitt fan too? Makes sense to hire Cowher if he would be interested. Problem is I don't think he is going to coach for a while.
He'd be a bad hire for anyone. There is no gurantee he wants to do it and I'd be worried he has Lou Pinella-itis-Big name coach comes to a big name place, already accomplished a ton-eventually gets burned out and your stuck paying for what the guy used to be but isn't anymore.
Gruden and Cohwer both are behind the NFL curve in my humble opinion. The game is drastically different than even when those two last prolwed the sidelines.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8827258/bill-cowher-wants-coach-nfl-again-some-point-according-report
since saban is staying at alabama, cowher is my first choice, then john gruden, and lovie smith if those 3 dont want the job.
I don't think Cower is serious about a return, yet, and probably not with the Browns. I think he is probably a little miffed a quarter of the league had HC vacancies and his name really didn't come up for any of them. I think he's just trying to keep his name out there for now, letting people know he may make a return.
If Cower is going to return, he is going to go to a team with a real quarterback where there is minimal rebuilding to do (Think the Bears or the Chargers). The Browns are a project.
I know Cowher was a good coach, but I just don't see greatness in him. One Championship in 15 seasons doesn't impress me, especially when you consider the talent and organization he had behind him. If he goes anywhere else, I don't see him doing anything special unless he is given free reign over the roster.
Didn't he at one point make the statement he would never coach in the AFC North out of respect for the Rooneys? He would never come to Cleveland for that reason, plus like others have stated he wants to go to a team that has a winning tradition with proven talent. I love the Browns but I don't think I could take the 'jaw' on the sidelines at this stage in my life. I have hated that jaw for too many years to sudden fall in love with him. He's no Urban
I'd like to see the Browns hires Marc Trestman. Guy was an OC for the Browns with Kosar, the 49ers with Young, the Lions with Hill who had a productive season, and the Raiders with Gannon. He also first coached Russell Wilson at NC State when he put up great numbers. His Montreal team has won two Grey Cups as well.
I was impressed with the Grey cups too until I found out there are only 8 teams in the league. Kind of diminishes the accomplishment a bit. I still like Trestman, though.
I just read that Cleveland has now met with Ken Whisenhunt twice now and will be speaking with Mike Zimmer.
The Browns have hired former offensive coordinator and current Panthers OC Rob Chudzinski. More details here.
I know this is a done deal and all, but earlier in the week it was mentioned that Haslam had in fact reached out to Cowher and coach Cowher turned them down
Battles are sometimes won by generals; wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates. Football is no different, the guys down in the trenches win the games, not the coach.
I think it was reported that Cowher isn't interested in returning this year, but in future years.
Cowher, Gruden, Arians, Wisenhunt, Lovie...
struck out with Chip, BoB, not sure they had interest in Reid or Marrone.
Josh McDaniels was interested as well.
but they get Chuds.