Bill Cowher is one of the most beloved head coaching figures in Pittsburgh sports history. That’s not just by the fans, but by the players as well.
Cowher, noted for his fiery personality on the sidelines, also treaded a thin line of being both the calm, and the storm with his players, as he told NPR’s Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! Podcast.
“I used to show my emotion a lot,” said Cowher. “I was very passionate about our job and I wanted our team to be passionate about our job. So sometimes I had to be the calm in the storm and sometimes I had to be the storm.”
There’s a long list of instances of Cowher getting heated on the sidelines during his tenure with the Steelers. With his pointed jaw and mean scowl worn throughout games, he became known as a no-nonsense coach with a short temper.
Perhaps his most notable moment was in 1995 when the team was playing the Vikings. The referee called a penalty on Pittsburgh for having too many men on the field after a missed field goal attempt by Minnesota. The subsequent rekick was good and to say Cowher wasn’t happy would be an understatement. When heading into the locker room at halftime he took a print out of the play, showing 11 men on the field, and stuffed it into the ref’s pocket.
That’s just one of the few, let’s say “fits of passion” that Cowher had during his time as the Steelers head coach. However, while clips of his passion made more headlines, he was also a deeply respected and loved coach by his players.
Jerome Bettis spoke about Cowher’s balancing act in 2019 when he received the Pat Summerall Award at the Legends of Charity Dinner.
“When you are trying to get across to guys you have to talk a certain way”, Bettis said of his former head coach. “He is one way behind the scenes when it was time for him to be a teacher. There was another side when he had to be a fiery coach on the sideline because that’s when his energy came out, his passion showed.”
His fits of passion and teaching presence brought out the best in his teams, ultimately leading him to a Super Bowl title and a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
