Decades ago, Bill Cowher sat in the shoes of Jerod Mayo, Mike Macdonald, and the slew of first-year head coaches months away from heading their first game. Just like he was speaking to a graduate class, Cowher offered a pep talk and life lesson speech to those new head coaches.
“My little bit of advice for them is to navigate their way through this first year,” he said in a video shared by The 33rd Team. “Stay true to who you are and be flexible in your approach. And what I’m saying about being flexible in your approach is, you may have to change midstream based on injuries, based on all of a sudden getting a feel for your football team. Someone, all of a sudden, you want to sit there, and you wanna elaborate and get them more involved in the game plan that will unfold upon your eyes. So don’t get so stuck in your pre-season thoughts. Be flexible.”
It’s a difficult balance and line to walk with all the competing pressures head coaches have. Though many focus on getting the best pure X’s and O’s type, finding the next offensive guru or defensive wizard, the job is so much more than that. It’s about managing people as much as anything else. Dealing with the roster, ownership, and the media, all while trying to win in the NFL’s cutthroat world. Most coaches don’t fail because they forget how to coach. It’s the CEO-like nature of the job that trips many up.
Like Chuck Noll, Cowher was hired as a young defensive mind when the Steelers brought him home in 1992. Pittsburgh had immediate success, going 11-5 his first year, starting the season 3-0 and making the playoffs. But a Super Bowl trophy would remain elusive, losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the 1995-1996 season and not getting back until 2005. Pittsburgh went on a historic run, becoming the first six-seed to win it all, doing so in RB Jerome Bettis’ hometown of Detroit.
Cowher’s message is similar to Mike Tomlin’s adage, “Have a plan, but be light on your feet.” Seasons never play out how anyone envisions them. The Steelers’ 2023 season is proof of that, starting with Kenny Pickett, ending with Mason Rudolph, and then turning over the entire quarterback room in one offseason.
While adjusting is key, Cowher warned not to stray too far from what matters.
“But also stay true to who you are, the core values that you have. And the last thing I said, just keep your head down. Take this week-to-week. Embrace the process. Don’t get caught up in thinking about the future, thinking about the past. Stay in the now. And when you do that, when it’s all said and done, you have created a very stable first year. And you also created an expectation. And starting a culture that you can carry on, that’s got longevity.”
The NFL season is a non-stop grind that offers little relief. With only 17 games, each one matters, and a losing streak can doom a season more compared to basketball, baseball, and hockey, which offer more forgiveness for a rough stretch. The first year is about surviving, lots of trial and error, and laying a foundation. Cowher benefitted from having the most stable and patient structure in sports, riding out a few rough years in the late 90s and early 2000s that may have gotten him canned by other owners. That patience paid off with the team’s fifth ring.
In previous interviews, Cowher also stressed the importance of hiring the right supporting staff and surrounding yourself with talented coordinators and position coaches.
2024 will feature six first and full-time head coaches: the Atlanta Falcons’ Raheem Morris, Las Vegas Raiders Antonio Pierce, Carolina Panthers’ Dave Canales, New England Patriots’ Jerod Mayo, Seattle Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald, and Tennessee Titans’ Brian Callahan. Morris served as head coach in Tampa Bay and interim head coach in Atlanta before, while Pierce replaced the fired Josh McDaniels early in the 2023 season. There’s also the Los Angeles Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh and Washington Commanders’ Dan Quinn, who had previous full-time stints in head coaching roles.
