Bill Cowher

William Laird "Bill" Cowher, a.k.a. "The Chin", (born May 8, 1957 in Crafton, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is the head coach of the NFL (American Football Conference) Pittsburgh Steelers. As of 2005, he has the longest-running tenure as head coach of any active coach in the NFL. The Steelers won Super Bowl XL under his direction, his first ever championship.

High school career

Cowher excelled in football, basketball, and track for Carlynton High in Crafton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, less than five miles from Heinz Field.

College career

At North Carolina State University, Cowher was a starting linebacker, team captain, and team MVP in his senior year. He graduated in 1979 with an education degree.

Pro Career

He began his NFL career as a player. He was a free-agent linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1979, and then signed with the Cleveland Browns the following year. Cowher played three seasons (1980-82) in Cleveland before being traded back to the Eagles, where he played two more years (1983-84).

One notable moment in his playing career is a special teams play when he broke the leg, and subsequently ended the playing career, of Chicago Bears kick returner (and current head coach of the Tennessee Titans) Jeff Fisher.

Coaching Career

Cowher began his coaching career in 1985 at age 28 under Marty Schottenheimer with the Browns. He was the Browns' special teams coach in 1985-86 and secondary coach in 1987-88 before following Schottenheimer to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989 as defensive coordinator.

He became the fifteenth head coach in Steelers history when he replaced Chuck Noll on January 21, 1992 – but only the second head coach since the NFL merger in 1970. In 1995, at age 38, he became the youngest coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl. Cowher is only the second coach in NFL history to lead his team to the playoffs in each of his first six seasons as head coach, joining Pro Football Hall of Fame member Paul Brown. In Cowher’s 14 seasons, the Steelers have captured eight division titles, earned ten postseason playoff berths, advanced to six AFC Championship games and made two Super Bowl appearances. He is one of only six coaches in NFL history to claim at least seven division titles. It has become an article of faith among NFL pundits that the Steelers do not have a bad team two years in a row – they have never lost 10 or more games in consecutive years since the 1970 NFL merger. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have the best record of any team in the National Football League since Cowher was hired as head coach. As of the end of the 2005 season, Cowher has boasted a 106-1-1 record when his Steelers are up by 11 or more points at any moment in a game. On February 5th, 2006, Cowher's Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL by defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10, giving Cowher his first Super Bowl ring.

Family

His wife Kaye, also a North Carolina State University graduate, played professional basketball for the New York Stars of the (now defunct) Women's Pro Basketball League with her twin sister Faye. Kaye is featured in the book "Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981," by Karra Porter (University of Nebraska Press, 2006). Bill and Kaye live in Pittsburgh and have three daughters. His oldest daughter Meagan plays college basketball at Princeton University. Recently, the Cowher family has purchased a home in Raleigh, leading to speculation from some quarters about the remaining length of Cowher's tenure as Steeler head coach.

Career record

Bill Cowher's Career Coaching Record
Franchise	Season	Wins	Losses	Ties	Postseason
Pittsburgh Steelers	1992	11	5	0	0-1 record (Lost to Buffalo Bills)
Pittsburgh Steelers	1993	9	7	0	0-1 record (Lost to Kansas City Chiefs)
Pittsburgh Steelers	1994	12	4	0	1-1 record (Beat Cleveland Browns, Lost to San Diego Chargers)
Pittsburgh Steelers	1995	11	5	0	2-1 record (Beat Buffalo Bills, Beat Indianapolis Colts, Lost to Dallas Cowboys - SB XXX)
Pittsburgh Steelers	1996	10	6	0	1-1 record (Beat Indianapolis Colts, Lost to New England Patriots)
Pittsburgh Steelers	1997	11	5	0	1-1 record (Beat New England Patriots, Lost to Denver Broncos)
Pittsburgh Steelers	1998	7	9	0
Pittsburgh Steelers	1999	6	10	0
Pittsburgh Steelers	2000	9	7	0
Pittsburgh Steelers	2001	13	3	0	1-1 record (Beat Baltimore Ravens, Lost to New England Patriots)
Pittsburgh Steelers	2002	10	5	1	1-1 record (Beat Cleveland Browns, Lost to Tennessee Titans)
Pittsburgh Steelers	2003	6	10	0
Pittsburgh Steelers	2004	15	1	0	1-1 record (Beat New York Jets, Lost to New England Patriots)
Pittsburgh Steelers	2005	11	5	0	4-0 record (Beat Cincinnati Bengals, Beat Indianapolis Colts, Beat Denver Broncos, Beat Seattle Seahawks - SB XL)

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