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With the Rooney family potentially losing its grip on the football franchise that the patriarch, Art Rooney, Sr., founded more than 75 years ago, there’s an interesting question on the minds of some league insiders.
Did former coach Bill Cowher know about the looming problems in ownership, and did it affect his decision to leave the team after the 2006 season?
If so, it would be proof positive that the unexpected uncertainty regarding the Steelers’ ownership situation already is having a negative impact on the franchise.
The issue likely has been percolating for a while, and perhaps Cowher caught wind of the possible problems as he was deciding whether to move on.
If we were “real” journalists, we’d probably call up Cowher and ask him. But he’d probably deny it anyway. So why waste the minutes on the Sprint phone?
July 15th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
This seems to be an enormous reach…..it would be shocking that Cower would have that clear of a crystal ball about the family(ies) that own the team and know that they may, 2 years later, hire an outside firm to value their shares.
If he knew this, teams ought to pay him about $20mm per year just to be their draft guru…..and maybe the Pats would even hire him at that pay rate just to steal defensive signals. Based on his futuristic mind-reading abilities of course.
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July 15th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I would take Mike Tomlin’s future over Bill Cowher’s one title any day.
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July 15th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I’m not sure that Cowher leaving because of ownership question would be “proof positive” that the ownership situation is having a negative impact on the franchise. The team did improve last season, the first season without Cowher.
A negative impact would be if the team went from 8-8 to 4-12 under a new head coach. Not a two game improvement and a return to the playoffs.
This theory is a pretty big reach if you ask me.
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July 15th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
“If so, it would be proof positive that the unexpected uncertainty regarding the Steelers’ ownership situation already is having a negative impact on the franchise.”
That’s assuming Cowher was actually a better coach than Tomlin is/will be.
And, Florio, I love the site, but it’s speculation like this that gives the media a bad name.
You need a Jump To Conclusions mat.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I would take Tomlin’s future over Cowher also but that’s only because I’m a Brown’s fan. In fact, I think Art Shell would make a great coach for the Squeelers.
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July 15th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
For anybody involved with a team “The owners may sell” has got to be something heard now and again. The head coach hears it. Everybody does.
If the Steelers were on the brink of being sold, and Cowher bailed out, okay, that’d be one thing. But the Rooneys are still in firm control of the team, and Cowher left after 14 or whatever yrs.
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July 15th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Cower knew nothing other then he was under paid and wanted to spend more time with his family…. and he will get back into coaching, but on his terms and he can pick and choose.
Worship me now.
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July 16th, 2008 at 12:18 am
WOW! You guys must have been really bored to come up with something like this. I mean come on guys, get out and find some real news. This story seems like it was thought up after a 12-pack, while watching Favre on Fox last night. I have to say, you guys do a great job most of the time, this is weak!
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 16th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I think that is reaching to say that The Chin quit because of owner unrest. The Rooneys are controlled by five brothers and they are wanting to protect their children from estate taxes, etc.
The Chin had not problem with how much he was paid, as he hasn’t taken another coaching job.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 16th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Cowher left because Cowher stunk as a coach. He lost what 4 championship games in his own building. He needed the refs to aid him (notice i did not say cheat etc-just bad calls that affecting the outcome) to a super bowl. The following year he was 8-8. He knew that if he stayed any longer he would damage his reputation.
COWHER IS NOT A HOF COACH!!!!
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July 16th, 2008 at 8:05 am
My own theory on why Cowher left centers around the change from Dan to Art II as president. Dan hired Cowher, Art II had made comments about time to win a championship. Cowher got his championship, saw the potential for a deteriorating relationship with his boss, weighed that against family pressures and made the move on his own terms.
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July 16th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I agree, this seems like a bit of a reach. Change in ownership means changing coaches if you have a bad coach. Cowher was beloved in Pittsburgh and I doubt a new owner (especially if it’s this fan owner Drukenmiller) would fire a good coach whom everyone loves.
That said, I was skeptical at the Tomlin hire at first. I figured Whiz Kid or Big Russ would have been automatic choices, but Tomlin did a really fine job last year. The only knock was going for (and subsequently missing) two 2-point conversions in the playoff game we lost by 2 points. (and yes I do realize that the game would have been completely different had Pittsburgh gone for the PAT, and they would have subsequently lost to the Patriots anyway.)
Wow, do I have a point here?
Oh, right. I think he legitimately wanted to spend time with his family. But he’ll be back coaching somewhere soon (Carolina). After all, coaches coach.
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July 16th, 2008 at 11:23 am
You should try Sprint’s Simply Everything plan. Then you could call Cowher all you like without worrying about the meter running.
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July 16th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Bill Cowher couldn’t even tell you what his opponent was going to do in the second half, and now we’re wondering if he could anticipate a major business doing years down the line?
This site is truly entertaining sometimes.
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July 16th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
everthing that has been said in this blog is pure
speculation.no one was a fly on the wall in any discussion
of consequence.
there are a lot of assumptions being tossed around here
and the majority of them are up for debate
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