Cowher to the Browns?

Living in Cleveland, if I am going to listen to sports radio, I am going to hear a lot about the Cleveland Browns.

While at work today, I happened to hear discussion about the next Browns head coach being Bill Cowher. Yes, the former Super Bowl winning head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Matter-of-fact, I had some coworkers even discussing it this morning.

Here are the ways Browns fans are trying to link Cowher to the Browns job:

1. Cowher bought a house in Strongsville, OH. There were reports back in 2008 that the former Steelers head coach had bought a house just outside of Cleveland. I have researched this and cannot find one iota of proof that Bill Cowher ever purchased a house in the Cleveland area in 2008 or since then. At the time, Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage were still employed by the Browns and while it was evident that both would be fired at the end of the season, Randy Lerner had not contacted anybody on the prospects of replacing either of those two men. It was nothing more than a rumor started by someone hoping that it would get back to Cowher that the Cleveland fans wanted him to coach their team. If he bought the house in 2008, then why did he turn down the job when he was asked if he was interested in it by Randy Lerner? Some fans are saying that he didn't want to deal with that mess....but why would he want to take the job five years later and clean up a different mess and change the defense back to a 3-4? If he didn't want it then, he more than likely doesn't want it now.
2. Cowher is good friends with the soon-to-be Browns owner Jimmy Haslam III. This is using the "six degrees of seperation" theory at best, in my opinion. Bill Cowher is the former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jimmy Haslam III is about to be, if he isn't already, a former minority owner of the Pittsurgh Steelers. Makes perfect sense, right? Not quite. Bill Cowher resigned as the Steelers head coach following the 2006 season. Jimmy Haslam III became a minority owner of the Steelers in 2008. At minimum, that's one year between their time with the Steelers. Once Cowher stepped down, he moved to North Carolina to spend time with his wife and children. As far as I know, he didn't spend much time afterwards in Pittsburgh, especially at Steelers headquarters where he would likely be stepping on toes with Mike Tomlin entrenched as the new Steelers head coach. Do they know each other? It's possible, but not all that likely. 
3. Cowher played and coached in Cleveland. Yes, Cowher was signed as afree agent by the Browns  (he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles) and then later coached there under Marty Schottenheimer. He followed Schottenheimer to Kansas City before being hired as Chuck Noll's replacement in Pittsburgh. He was a finalist for the Browns job in 1991 where Bill Bellichick was hired instead. Just because he at one point played and coached in Cleveland doesn't automatically mean that he wants to become the head coach in Cleveland. It's a part of his history, but that doesn't mean it's a part of his future. 

Here are the common sense reasons that he won't be coaching the Cleveland Browns anytime soon:

1. He has no desire to get back into coaching. Bill Cowher has stated that he currently has no desire to return to the sidelines, and I don't blame him if that's true. NFL head coaches put in extreme hours, during the season they often sleep in their office and see their families very little. It's a grind, and I believe that after winning the Super Bowl following the 2005 season he lost that fire and the grind of being a head coach since 1992 and an assistant coach since 1985. He played from 1979 until 1984. That's a lot of time spending your life focused on football. Right now he works basically one day a week, being payed handsomely for it. He gets to spend time with his family. He gets to live life. If he lost the fire to coach, I doubt he's ever going to get it back.
2. If he wants to coach again, he wants it to be the right situation. If he does come back, he doesn't want to work to rebuild a team. I think he'd rather step into a pretty nice situation. I can see him going to San Diego if Norv Turner gets canned. They already run his preferred 3-4 defense, have a talented young QB in Phillip Rivers, and have a good running back in Ryan Matthews. Cleveland is currently the only team without a win in the NFL. While they have an excellent running back in Trent Richardson, there are questions everywhere else. Brandon Weeden could be a good NFL QB or another Browns first round bust. The offensive line has weaknesses. The defense just gave up 200 yards rushing last Sunday. Cowher would have to change the defense back to a 3-4 if that's the defense that he's married to (and I think he is). Another team I can see him taking over is the New York Giants if Tom Coughlin decides to retire. That's the right situation, not Cleveland.
3. He has too much respect for the Rooney Family and the Pittsburgh Steelers to coach within the AFC North. Cowher grew up just outside of Pittsburgh, PA as a Steelers fan. Yeah, he played for Cleveland and was an assistant coach there. As a player, you go where you're wanted. If you want to get into coaching, you go where you're offered a job. If the Browns offered me a job as a coach or scout tomorrow, I would take it. It was former Browns and Ravens owner that chose not to higher Cowher back in 1991. It was Dan Rooney that chose to hire Cowher as the head coach in 1992. It was Dan Rooney that stuck by Cowher through some losing seasons and questionable personnel decisions. Cowher then rewarded himself and Dan Rooney for that faith by winning his first and the team's fifth Super Bowl Championship after the 2005 season. I don't think he would want to ruin his Steelers legacy by coaching another team in the AFC North, facing Pittsburgh twice a season and possibly keeping the Steelers out of the playoffs by doing so. He wouldn't do that to the organization  the Rooney family, or Steeler Nation. He will always be a Steeler in his heart, as long as he doesn't coach the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, or Baltimore Ravens.
4. He has already accomplished a Hall of Fame coaching career. From 1992 through the 2006 seasons, Bill Cowher built up a head coaching resume very worthy of the National Football League Hall of Fame. He won one Super Bowl (XL), two AFC Championships (six AFC Championship Game appearances), Eight AFC Central/North Division Championships, Ten Playoff Appearances, 1992 AP NFL Coach of the Year, Two Time Sporting News Coach of the Year (1992, 2004), 149-90-1 regular season record (.623 winning percentage), 12-9 Playoff Record, 161-99-1 overall record. Would he still end up in the Hall of Fame if he took the reigns in Cleveland and failed? I think so. But why take the chance when right now you'll be wearing that yellow jacked in the very near future? Not to mention if he does coach again, he would have to wait another five years after retirement to become eligible for the Hall of Fame.

The Browns fans want Bill Cowher. They want a head coach with a winning resume who they believe can bring a Super Bowl Championship to Cleveland. I don't blame them, no Cleveland team has won a World Championship since 1964. 

They are sick of head coaches who have failed elsewhere or guys that have never been a head coach before. They also want stability, something this team has not had since before the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. 

However, I don't see Bill Cowher taking the Browns job, or any job for that matter. He's got plenty of money, he doesn't need to coach for the money. I think he's happy doing television work and has no desire to coach again. When he says this, I believe him. Will he talk to NFL owners when they call? Of course he will, he doesn't want to create enemies in case he does one day decide he wants to coach again. But if he hasn't gotten that fire back, if his batteries haven't recharged yet, then I doubt they ever will. 

With Arians' retirement, what's going to happen to the Steelers offense?

A few days ago, it was announced that Steelers' offensive coordinator Bruce Arians would be "retiring." Rumor has it that Arians didn't have much of a choice. No matter how the retirement came about, this will be the first major coaching change that head coach Mike Tomlin has had to deal with since he became the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He retained Dick Lebeau as defensive coordinator when he took over the job, and Lebeau has not decided to hang them up yet. He promoted Bruce Arians from wide receiver coach to offensive coordinator, and now he is without an offensive coordinator for the first time as a head coach.

Bruce Arians was a lightning rod when it came to discussion between Steelers fanatics. There was a faction that absolutely hated him, a faction that loved him, and then there were those in between.

The ones that absolutely hated him felt that the offense was too predictable, wished he would use a true fullback and run the ball more, and felt that the plays he called never worked and the only plays that ever worked were the ones that Ben Roethlisberger called.

The Arians lovers felt that the offense was moving in the right direction with the league becoming more and more pass happy with each season. They felt Arians was utilizing our best player, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. And they felt that when a play didn't work it was the sole fault of the players not executing the play that was called.

I am more of an in between guy. Did I feel that Arians' offense was at times too predictable? Yes, there were times where I knew what the play was going to be before the huddle was broken. However, with the way the NFL is going under the direction of Roger Goodell (and this is a whole other blog article in itself), that focusing more on the passing game is a good idea. However, I did wish that he would have utilized a true fullback, especially in short yardage and goal line situations. Yes, there were bad play calls, but hindsight is 20/20. If the play works and gets good yardage, it was a great call....but if it ends up in a loss of yards or worse a turnover, the fans say it was a horrible play call. And that goes for any play caller, not just Bruce Arians.

Steelers President Art Rooney II has reportedly said that he wants the old offense. He wants to go back to the blue collar identity that the Steelers have had in the past. This isn't the first time Art Rooney II has given an edict to his coaches since taking over as the shot caller in the Steelers ownership structure. Just the other year, he demanded that the offense put more of a focus on running the football.

The Rooney ownership has largely stood back and let the people they hire to run the football side of things do their job. That's the way they have operated throughout most of the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They have had only three head coaches since 1969 (Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin). However, they have intervened at times when they have seen it necessary, it is their money that is being spent.

However, with Art II now having the final decision over everything, it looks like his input will be offered more often than that of his father Dan Rooney..and his grandfather, Steelers founder Art Rooney. I am fully expecting Art II to be involved in the search for a new offensive coordinator since he wants to go back to the blue collar identity that has been the Steelers in the past.

My main concern is, by old offense, does he mean the "Cowherball" days where the Steelers offense looked like this: run-run-pass-punt more often than not. Do I want more balance between the run and the pass? Yeah, I would prefer more of a 45% run to 55% pass, or something close to that. Running the ball keeps the defense honest, it doesn't allow them to totally sell out to protect against the pass...and throwing the ball slightly more doesn't allow the defense to totally sell out against stopping the run.

I am expecting whoever gets hired for the job to employ a true fullback into the offense, especially with Rashard Mendenhall being injured. Our starting running back will likely be Issac Redman, and he's a power runner. I think with Redman as our starter, using a true fullback would help tremendously since I don't see us running many edge plays. Just give him the ball up the gut, let a fullback make a hole, and then Redman can blow it open even more.

One thing I really liked about Bruce Arians is that he consulted with Ben Roethlisberger about the offense. They sat down and went through the playbook...they got rid of plays that Ben felt didn't work or he didn't like. And that was the right move. Roethlisberger is the franchise quarterback of the Steelers. He is the recipient of the largest contract handed out to a player in team history. He has won two Super Bowls and been to a third.

I just hope that the new offensive coordinator brings back some of that blue collar toughness that comes to mind when you think of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But with the league becoming more and more pass happy, I really hope that the new coordinator doesn't try to be too much of a "three yards and a cloud of dust" play caller. Just strike the appropriate balance of run/pass on offense. The Steelers have the type of players to finish in the top ten in most offensive categories every year. I am expecting whoever is hired to replace Arians to make this offense the best it can possibly be.

And yes, I am going to be sending my resume to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Why not?