If there are two arch-nemesis of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 21st century it would be QB Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick. When both Brady and Belichick were together on the New England Patriots they had Pittsburgh’s number, no matter who was coaching the Steelers. Despite this, Belichick has a lot of respect for at least one of those coaches in Bill Cowher.
Belichick recently sat down with Mike Tannenbaum of The 33rd Team and discussed coaches he wished he would have coached with and listed Cowher.
“On the defensive side of the ball, I had a lot of respect for Bill Cowher, Marty Schottenheimer, of course they’re kind of from the same tree.”
Both Cowher and Belichick are known defensive coaches, consistently fielding top defenses throughout their time coaching in the NFL. Due in part to their great defenses both Cowher and Belichick faced off against each other often in the playoffs. Cowher was only victorious against Belichick one time, in the 1994 playoffs against Belichick’s Cleveland Browns, while he fell twice to Belichick’s Patriots with Super Bowl berths on the line in 2001 and 2004.
Despite Cowher’s lack of success against Belichick, it certainly isn’t indicative of his coaching. Cowher is in the Hall of Fame for a reason, winning 161 including Super Bowl XL. To win Super Bowl XL, the Steelers thankfully did not have to go through Belichick’s Patriots due to the Denver Broncos. Given that Belichick and Cowher already had a relationship, Belichick called Cowher and gave him advice on how to help beat the Broncos and advance to the Super Bowl.
Pittsburgh ended up rolling Denver in the 2005 AFC Championship game, winning 34-17 in a game that was really never close. How much and what advice Belichick gave to Cowher we don’t know and may never know, but it certainly helped. One can only wonder how good a team with Belichick and Cowher as a head coach/defensive coordinator tandem would be.
Belichick is arguably the greatest coach in NFL history, and he will certainly be joining Cowher in the Hall of Fame one day. Despite their rivalry on the field, there is a great respect between Belichick and Cowher off the field, and for good reason: both are great coaches. If not for Belichick, Cowher may still be searching for his first Super Bowl ring, or he may have won it much earlier.
