| The 2003 season marked Bill Cowher’s twelth as head coach of the Steelers, continuing his run as the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL. A disappointing 6-11 record led to significant off-season changes in his coaching staff and probably just as significant changes to the roster personnel by the time the 2004 regular season will start. The Steelers running game, usually the mainstay of its offense, finished the season ranked 31st in the league. A combination of injuries to the offensive line and lack of quality depth in that area plagued the Steeler running game all season. Red zone efficiency continued to suffer also, with the Steelers ending up ranked 11th and 23rd in the AFC and NFL, respectively. And, although the pass defense improved over the previous season’s performance, the Steelers allowed opponents to score touchdowns on 51.1 percent of their red-zone possessions in 2003 (11th in the AFC and 19th in the NFL). A return to a strong running game and improvement in the defensive secondary to allow a more attack-oriented defense will be two of the major priorities for Cowher in 2004.
In 1992, Bill Cowher was chosen to succeed the legendary Chuck Noll as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In Cowher, the Steelers felt they had signed a coach who would continue the team's commitment to winning with a strong, aggressive defense coupled with a ball-control offense that relied heavily on the running game. At the time of his hiring, Cowher was the defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. The other finalist for the Steeler HC position was fellow Pittsburgh native Dave Wannestedt, who was the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys at the time.
After playing college football at North Carolina State, he began his NFL career as a linebacker with the Browns in 1980, after failing to make the Eagles' roster in 1979. In his 5 years as a player (Browns 1980-82, Eagles 1983-84) Bill was a major contributor on special teams with both teams. You could say he was the classic overachieving special-teams maniac. His stint as a player ended with a knee injury in 1984.
It was in Cleveland that Cowher was a ST captain (1982) and apparently the Browns had noted his leadership skills and hired the 28-year old as their special teams coach in 1985. Marty Schottenheimer was part of the Browns' coaching staff while Cowher had played there, and now he'd be working as an assistant under Schottenheimer, who had assumed the head coaching position a year earlier. It was the start of a close relationship that continues to this day. With the Browns, Cowher was the ST coach from 1985-86 and the receivers coach from 1987-88. He then followed Schottenheimer to Kansas City in 1989 and became the defensive coordinator there until 1992, when he signed on with the Steelers at the age of 34, shortly after the retirement of Chuck Noll.
As a rookie head coach, he was the AP and the Sporting News 1992 NFL Coach of the Year after leading the Steelers to their first AFC Central Division title in eight years. 1993 saw the Steelers claim a wild-card spot. Cowher resumed leading the team to the division title for 4 straight years (1994-97). They just missed going to the Super Bowl in a heartbreaker loss to San Diego in the AFC Championship game in 1994 and followed that season with a close loss to Dallas in the 1995 Super Bowl. |
