Fire Bill Cowher .com
Posted December 4th, 2005 @ 09:19am by Erik J. Barzeski
An article at stillers.com mentions "fireronzook.com." I was friends with some FL Gators fans while I lived in FL, and I can attest to their distaste for Ron Zook. My own distaste for Bill Cowher is an equal match, but the article linked above provides a nifty way of looking at it:
So if we add everything all up, Bill Cowher has been in football for 31 years from High School thru the Pros. He has won ZERO championships at any level. His mentor has 26 years in the NFL with ZERO Championships. His "brothers" have 16 years head coaching experience with ZERO SB appearances. His offspring have 24 years of NFL head coaching experience with ZERO Super Bowl appearances. When you add in Ron Zook's time as a college head coach you come up with over 100 years of coaching lineage and zero championships. A CENTURY OF FAILURES are the true blood lines of Coach Bill Cowher. I think it's time to take this dog out behind the shed, Old Yeller style.
I should note too that firebillcowher.com does exist.
Donate Life
Posted 04 Dec 2005 at 9:34pm #
The link to stillers.com is broken.
Posted 05 Dec 2005 at 9:21am #
Yes it was. Now it's fixed.
Posted 05 Dec 2005 at 12:32pm #
Tell ya what send Bill Cowher to Detroit and we will send you the the pethetic mess thats been the Detroit Lions since Cowher took over your beloved Steelers... then again we would still have Millen as or GM... hmmm think Cowher might want a GM/Head Coach job? Nah thats not going to happen anytime soon. Didn't Cowher have a few down years not that long ago only to come back with a stronger better team?
BTW: I tend to think NFL fans around the country think higher of Cowher than you guy do and while at the same time thinking less of Ben... so im sure reality is someplace in between.
Posted 05 Dec 2005 at 12:43pm #
Bill Cowher has repeatedly done less with more talent than nearly any other team in the NFL, year after year. This year, last year. When he gets to the post-season he has no ability to win.
It has nothing to do with coming back with stronger and/or better teams - that's largely the guise and wile of the front office. Cowher repeatedly sits rookies who out-play veterans just because they're rookies. Only when he's forced to make a change (because the front office trades someone or whatever) will Cowher change things up.
Posted 26 Jan 2006 at 3:18pm #
Regarding your opinions on Bill Cowher. He is a GREAT coach that has the full support of GREAT ownership! It is unfortunate that some fans think they are more qualified to run the franchise. Your lack of support for our Hall Of Fame coach might suggest that you would be happy with a Super Bowl XL loss. There is a name for people like you. BROWNS FANS!
Posted 26 Jan 2006 at 3:25pm #
You're a moron, Ira.
Posted 08 Feb 2006 at 10:14am #
What do you have to say now, buddy. Way to throw a Pittsburgh guy, and the coach who has led his team to several AFC Championship games, under the train. Did you ever think about the teams that were beating the Steelers in those championships? With the exception of the Chargers, every one of them won the Super Bowl. Oh well, it's a moot point now. He brought the franchise and its fans a title so maybe it's time to retire this ridiculous post, "Old Yeller style," you fair-weather putz!! Steelers stick with their guys. This franchise isn't the Raiders.
Posted 08 Feb 2006 at 10:39am #
I have to say what I've said on Monday and today (Wednesday) on my blog. Apply a brain cell or two to answering your own question before asking it like a moron.
I still think the Steelers won the Super Bowl in spite of Bill Cowher. What was a changed man in the playoffs - aggressive O and D - turned again into the Turtling Bilbo Cowher in the Super Bowl. Only a crap effort from the Seahawks and three big plays by the Steelers players got Billy his ring.
Nearly any AFC team could have won the Super Bowl last year (when the Steelers were 15-1). Even with Kordell, the Steelers were better than Denver and should have won. And Bilbo "coached" the XXX loss.
Before you call me a "fair-weather putz," again, do some fucking research. I called Bill Cowher a horrid coach in a year we won the Super Bowl. I called him a bad coach because he's consistently lost big games he should have won. Even last year, his team whooped the Patriots in the regular season and then barely beat the JETS in the playoffs?!?!
I'll gladly "retire" this post if Bill Cowher coaches like he did in the playoffs for the rest of his career. But if he coaches like he typically does, and as he did for most of the Super Bowl, then my opinion remains solid.
And next time, buddy, do a little research before you post such stupid shit.
Posted 08 Feb 2006 at 12:24pm #
Alright, dude, I guess this is the way it's gonna be. I'll explain to you - without childish profanity, tough guy - how I found this place and why I think it's ridiculous to put it all on Cowher.
I Googled "fire Bill Cowher" just to see if people were backing off their stance that the coach of our favorite team should be fired. For some reason the site was not working so I came to this place. The only thing I saw was the quote listed above which rips the guy and says we ought to kill his career in Pittsburgh, so I responded. I probably shouldn't have called you a fair weather putz but let me explain why I did.
I believe in Cowher and his system. Coaches rarely lose games because of absolutely terrible decision making. All coaches can do is motivate and make sure they get their guys in to spots where they can make plays. It's up to the players to then execute. Plus, every season there are 31 teams who end their seasons with losses, so I'm pretty sure that losses happen. Cowher gives his team the chance to win an SB because they're in the playoffs every season. Do you really think that the team has that level of success by winning despite their coach? Shaky performances by Pittsburgh QBs have been the norm, lately, and I wonder why you think that's Cowher's fault. Ben was a rookie last season and Kordell Stewart and Neil O'Donnell sucked so the fact that cowher's teams got as far as they did should be complimented, not derided.
Last season, Ben played terrible in the playoffs, no denying it. Pittsburgh lost to the Super Bowl champs which would lead me to believe that nobody was beating them. Yeah, the Steelers beat the Pats on Halloween weekend, but if this season proved anything it's that October and November games don't mean squat. Teams change during the season and the product you get in the playoffs might not be the same as the one you get in the regular season.
As for cowher's inability to win when it counts, just look at the teams that have beaten the Steelers and then look at some of the less-than HOF caliber players who were wearing Black & Gold. The Steelers lost to the Chargers in '94 but it took a last second breakup in the endzone to put the Chargers in the SB. Lets say Pittsburgh wins that one. So what. The Niners were going to kill whatever team they played.
In '95, that moron O'Donnell puked away a game that the Steelers were still in because of Cowher's ballsy onside kick to open the second half. If O'Donnell doesn't melt down and start playing catch with Larry Brown, who knows how the game plays out.
In '97, the team ran in to the Broncos and again a mediocre QB subamarined their chances of winning. Kordell had a good stretch run that season but, c'mon, the guy was terrible and all Steelers fans know it. What did he throw, two second half INTs? Oh yeah, I believe the Broncos won that SB so I'm guessing they were pretty good.
In '01, with an imporoved but still brutal Kordell, Pittsburgh lost a game that featured a couple of Stewart's usual bad picks, a blocked FG for a TD, and a punt return TD. Well, maybe the argument could be made that the ST play could go straight back to cowher but I doubt he told his guys to let a Pat go straight through the middle and stuff the FG and I'm pretty sure he didn't ask them to not tackle on the PR. Oh yeah, NE won the SB that season and jumpstarted a dynasty.
Look, you can shout that the team should fire Cowher all you want. I'm sure the Rooney family really cares. Oh yeah, I think Cowher just bought himself at least five more years, if he wants them, so I guess you better get ready to be miserable for a while. Teams lose, dude, that's the way it goes, but the fact that the Steelers showed loyalty to, and a belief in, Cowher is a big reason why the team was able to come together so well. It shows the players that the organization realizes that sometimes stuff happens and you don't win the SB but if you believe in your guys and your system, good things will happen. Cowher's a survivor and a hell of a coach who doesn't give up and who shows, year in and year out, the dedication, heart, intelligence, and perserverance it takes to field a winner. He personifies the phrase, "Fall down seven time, get up eight," and I'm pretty sure there are at least twenty teams in the NFL that would love to call the Steelers' guy their own.
Posted 08 Feb 2006 at 1:29pm #
Please do your research next time. The quote listed above was accurate until very recently, and if you look at the date the article was posted, it was accurate when posted, too.
What "system"?
The coach is responsible for motivating his team and in the end is responsible for not only personnel decisions but playcalling, etc. Everything but actual execution. When Bill Cowher instructs Dick LeBeau to "stay back" as he's done, that's Bill's fault, not the fault of the players. When Bill insists on using a running game that ain't working, that's Bill's fault, not the player's.
That's not up for debate. What is up for debate is whether Bill Cowher could have done a heckuva lot more with the talent he's had in the past 14 years.
I don't call last year's effort against the Jets or the Patriots "giving his team a chance." The teams were ill-prepared, had bad game plans, and so on. What about the field goal from the 1-yard line against the Pats when the Steelers were down two TDs (or 10?) and had momentum on their side? Coaching decision that quelched any momentum the Steelers - and the fans inside Heinz Field - had.
Yes. But I'm hoping this was a rhetorical question… because that's obvious.
Defense wins Super Bowls, and if Trent Dilfer can lead his team to a win, Bill Cowher should have been able to win a whole lot more post-season games with his teams than he has.
Sucked more than Trent Dilfer? And with the Pittsburgh D and running games of the past, oh, 15 years (minus three years around 1998), these QBs were more than capable enough to get the job done.
Last season, the Steelers were not prepared to play post-season football, nor did they have a coherent, good, solid game plan going in. They played soft, unprepared, non-physical football and were beaten severely by both the Jets AND the Patriots.
Ben didn't play at his best, but he played well enough that those games shouldn't have been, effectively, losses.
After demolishing them in the regular season. So what? They should have won.
You're right. In the playoffs, Bill's anal sphincter clenches up so tight that you could turn coal into diamonds in days.
The Steelers routinely have a very solid lineup. That's why they win so many regular-season games. How many HOFers does any team have in any one year? I'd bet the Steelers are higher on the list than 25 of the other teams. This year alone they have Ward (few more good seasons), Bettis, Ben, perhaps Faneca, and a few others who have a chance if they play well for a few more years. How many does Seattle have? One (Shaun Alexander)? Perhaps Tatupu?
The Steelers were BY FAR the better team that year. The Chargers were injury-riddled. The game should have been a Steelers blowout, yet they lost because they played sloppy, unprepared football.
If Erric Pegram - the "fast/cut" rusher that year - doesn't start on the sloppy, muddy, rain-soaked field and instead Bill Cowher starts Bam Morris, a bashing rusher (the kind that plays well in the mud), the Cowboys - 10-point favorites, BTW - may not have ever had the lead. The game was awfully close, and the Steelers climbed back into it when Bill finally realized Pegram was slipping all over the place.
The Steelers were the better team that year. Look it up.
Yeah, great special teams coaching. And how about the false start on the first play of the game? Yeah, that's having your team prepared!
Yet the Steelers were the better team.
At what point have I said that they should fire Bill Cowher? Go ahead, find it in this entry. I don't say it. Had he missed the playoffs this year, I'd have said it. You're damn right.
He didn't even know to put in a silent count going into Indianapolis the first time this year. How braindead is that? How is that preparing your team for the game?
I'm not miserable you twit. My team won the Super Bowl in spite of their coach.
I was the first person to admit that the old Bill Cowher seemed to get shoved aside during the playoffs. But he returned for the Super Bowl.
I'm sure there are. And I hope that the Bill Cowher - the Bill Cowher that gets his team to play extremely aggressive, go-for-the jugular football - comes out in 2006. He went into hiding during the Super Bowl… so I hope that now that he's got a ring, he lets hell fly and the Steelers kick ass every week. But I think that's unlikely to happen, sadly.
This is my last post (and yours, too) on this, and I'll leave you with this
Posted 08 Nov 2006 at 8:32pm #
Are and idiot. Bill Cowher Super Bowl? Hell ya! He also is among the active leaders in all-time wins, and he rarely ever has a losing season.
Posted 08 Nov 2006 at 10:36pm #
[quote comment="21934"]Are and idiot. Bill Cowher Super Bowl? Hell ya! He also is among the active leaders in all-time wins, and he rarely ever has a losing season.[/quote]
"Are and idiot"? He rarely has a losing season because the Steelers have quality players. A better coach could have gotten 2-4 Super Bowls in the past 5 years out of the teams Cowher has had. Instead, his teams are unprepared, lackadaisical, and play sloppy playoff football. Have you ever seen a coach as unconcerned about being 2-6 as Cowher is this year?
The Steelers won the Super Bowl last year in spite of Bill Cowher.
Posted 28 Nov 2006 at 7:18am #
I am obviously not going to change a locked mind but Erik I am surprised that you have not jumped on to the New England bandwagon. The Steelers won SB XL because of Cowher. He is the one who got them there. The game against the Colts was one of the greatest coaching jobs ever! He did it with the same team that lost to them just a few weeks earlier. You seem to have a knack for dwelling on the negative, how ever small it is, you know making a mountain out of a mole hill kinda thing. After 2 AFC titles a Super Bowl title and several division titles, I will focus on the positives. I will be there at the Hall of Fame when Bill Cowher is inducted.
Posted 28 Nov 2006 at 9:27am #
[quote comment="25604"]I am obviously not going to change a locked mind but Erik I am surprised that you have not jumped on to the New England bandwagon.[/quote]
Uh, I don't jump on any bandwagons.
[quote comment="25604"]The Steelers won SB XL because of Cowher. He is the one who got them there. The game against the Colts was one of the greatest coaching jobs ever![/quote]
Right. Instead of putting the game away, Cowher turtled and nearly lost it in the end. That was hardly a great coaching job.
[quote comment="25604"]He did it with the same team that lost to them just a few weeks earlier.[/quote]
It wasn't a few weeks, and yes, I remember the earlier Indy game. It was a game played in a dome in which Cowher, brilliant as he is, forgot to practice a silent count. Fricking brilliant!
[quote comment="25604"]After 2 AFC titles a Super Bowl title and several division titles, I will focus on the positives. I will be there at the Hall of Fame when Bill Cowher is inducted.[/quote]
Good for you. He doesn't deserve it. He's done less with more talent than almost every other coach who's been in the league.
P.S. Look at his attitude this year. He knows he's done coaching at the end of the year, but now he's got his SB ring. Where's the chin? Where's the spit? Where's the passion, the anger, the frustration at being 4-7 and turning the ball over four times per game? In North Carolina, that's where. Pathetic.
Posted 26 Dec 2012 at 9:09pm #
It's great to find that some of these conversations were actually preserved in the stacks and piles of the internet. I am in the midst of several "Fire Tomlin" debates with people who want to run the current coach out of town. They have this rose-colored memory of everybody loving and worshipping Cowher so it's nice to see that wasn't the case.
I'm not concerned about winning or losing the argument, I just want fair facts to be part of the discussion and it looks like a few of you on here really made great cases (both pro and con).
Life long Steeler Fan,
Matt
Posted 27 Dec 2012 at 9:22am #
[quote comment="72190"]I am in the midst of several "Fire Tomlin" debates with people who want to run the current coach out of town.[/quote]
FWIW, I'd support firing Mike Tomlin too. His team has been unprepared virtually every week the past few years, his offensive and defensive coordinators are lousy (Dick LeBeau should have retired four or five years ago), and a whole host of other issues.
Undoubtedly there are worse coaches in the NFL. But Tomlin is not one of the best, and Ben's career is on the downward trend.