Bill Cowher: "I Felt Like A Prisoner" as Steelers Head Coach

Article:

Nearly a decade after his final game as coach of the Steelers, Bill Cowher gave a very honest answer about why he decided to walk away from football.

In a very revealing article written by Rolling Stone...

LINK: http://pit.247sports.com/Bolt/Bill-Cowher-on-why-he-retired-I-felt-like-a-prisoner--40847451

great read!

Gotta respect a man for putting his life style and his family above football. It's just a game, after all.

His new job is a hell of a lot easier than his old job and he gets to lead a fairly normal life while being treated like a king.

He'd be crazy to return to coaching.

The four championship game losses at home still hurt.

Thanks for the link

Link to the full Rolling Stone article here - a great read - I have no clue how this made it into Rolling Stone

Bill Cowher's New Normal
Eight years ago, he walked away from "the best job in the NFL," and he hasn't looked back. How a Super Bowl-winning coach rediscovered life – and found happiness – outside of football

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/bill-cowhers-new-normal-20151105#ixzz3qlbmfssz

I have sometimes thought Cowher was planning to quit after the 2005 season before the Super Bowl run since his family had moved away from their house in Pittsburgh and lived in Raleigh during the 2006 season.  

The article refers to that by stating Kaye Cowher pushed for the move to Raleigh but does not explicitly state she moved away the year before he quit

So while he knew the end was coming for his coaching career in 2005, it was Kaye who helped push to make it happen. To move the family down to Raleigh, where their relationship began, and enjoy Lindsay's final years of high school. To be a normal family again.

Glad he found a fulfilling life after coaching and happiness after Kaye Cowher tragically passed away at a relatively young age.

"I've had a couple of people – prominent coaches – walk into an office, shut the door and say, 'What's it like, not coaching?'" Cowher says. "They're scared. They're scared not to have that. And I'll tell them, 'You know, it's different. You're not going to replace coaching. But there's some normality that's out there, and that's also kind of refreshing.' I think you lose the ability to go have a normal dinner. The ability to go out to a park. Go traveling. Do the things you never did before."

I miss his intensity

The article indicates that Coach Cowher could no longer deliver that level of intensity and was burned out on everything that goes into being the coach of a high profile professional sports team

I know he did not seem to have that intensity during the 2006 season

Coach Cowher is not the first highly successful person to realize their dream job is no longer worth the hassles that go with it and had the financial freedom to walk away

I remember within a year after retiring him saying "there comes a time when you run out of material, run out of things to say in the locker room".

When you think of it, living in the public eye has to be a drag. It probably really sucked for his kids in school after a Steeler loss.

LambertLunatic wrote:

When you think of it, living in the public eye has to be a drag.  It probably really sucked for his kids in school after a Steeler loss.

Indeed. When the Steelers are not winning a segment of the fan base lashes out.

It became really ugly during the three year stretch with no playoff appearances from 1998 - 2000 when stories were circulated about Cowher having an affair with an employee in the Steelers office.

Pretty clear Kaye Cowher wanted to leave that job and Pittsburgh in the rear view mirror.

Tomlin doesn't feel any pressure. he has a job guaranteed for 30 years no matter what. YAY!

graveyardshift wrote:

Tomlin doesn't feel any pressure. he has a job guaranteed for 30 years no matter what. YAY!

Not to really get into comparing the two but Tomlin definitely strikes me as a guy who has more fun doing this job and enjoys his time in the locker room than Cowher ever did. I would be surprised if he ever said something like this about his time here, at least up to this point.

PhantomJB93 wrote:

graveyardshift wrote:

Tomlin doesn't feel any pressure. he has a job guaranteed for 30 years no matter what. YAY!

Not to really get into comparing the two but Tomlin definitely strikes me as a guy who has more fun doing this job and enjoys his time in the locker room than Cowher ever did.  I would be surprised if he ever said something like this about his time here, at least up to this point.

The inconsistencies this team shows week in, week out is a reflection of the coach. You might be right that Tomlin can handle the pressure in a way in the sense that you are implying. But part of it is because he knows he will still be head coach for another 20-30 years, so he knows he "really doesn't HAVE to work hard enough."

True. The growth rate of this new team is not popular with the fans.

graveyardshift wrote:

PhantomJB93 wrote:

graveyardshift wrote:

Tomlin doesn't feel any pressure. he has a job guaranteed for 30 years no matter what. YAY!

Not to really get into comparing the two but Tomlin definitely strikes me as a guy who has more fun doing this job and enjoys his time in the locker room than Cowher ever did.  I would be surprised if he ever said something like this about his time here, at least up to this point.

The inconsistencies this team shows week in, week out is a reflection of the coach. You might be right that Tomlin can handle the pressure in a way in the sense that you are implying. But part of it is because he knows he will still be head coach for another 20-30 years, so he knows he "really doesn't HAVE to work hard enough."

Tomlin only coasts through his career with cowhers players...

PhantomJB93 wrote:

graveyardshift wrote:

Tomlin doesn't feel any pressure. he has a job guaranteed for 30 years no matter what. YAY!

Not to really get into comparing the two but Tomlin definitely strikes me as a guy who has more fun doing this job and enjoys his time in the locker room than Cowher ever did.  I would be surprised if he ever said something like this about his time here, at least up to this point.

Cowher was the ultimate players coach from 1992 - 1997

Check back with Tomlin in year 15

One quote I recall about how anybody could get tired of something is from the golfer Lee Trevino

Lee and his friends are having a drink after a round of golf when a gorgeous woman walks in the bar and every guy is stunned by her beauty. Lee says'''Somewhere, someone is tired of that.''

http://forums.warriorsworld.net/main/msgs/567378.phtml

tony hipchest wrote:

graveyardshift wrote:

PhantomJB93 wrote:

graveyardshift wrote:

Tomlin doesn't feel any pressure. he has a job guaranteed for 30 years no matter what. YAY!

Not to really get into comparing the two but Tomlin definitely strikes me as a guy who has more fun doing this job and enjoys his time in the locker room than Cowher ever did.  I would be surprised if he ever said something like this about his time here, at least up to this point.

The inconsistencies this team shows week in, week out is a reflection of the coach. You might be right that Tomlin can handle the pressure in a way in the sense that you are implying. But part of it is because he knows he will still be head coach for another 20-30 years, so he knows he "really doesn't HAVE to work hard enough."

Tomlin only coasts through his career with cowhers players...

Remember folks, Cowher is the one who signed Deangelo.