Early life

Born in Crafton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Cowher excelled in football, basketball, and track for Carlynton High. At North Carolina State University, he was a starting linebacker, team captain, and team MVP in his senior year. He graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in education.

Professional career

Cowher began his NFL career as a linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1979, but signed with the Cleveland Browns the following year. Cowher played three seasons (1980-82) in Cleveland, making him a member of the Kardiac Kids, before being traded back to the Eagles, where he played two more years (1983-84). His tenure in Philadelphia included tackling a young Jeff Fisher (who later became the head coach of the Tennessee Titans) when playing against the Chicago Bears, causing Fisher to break his leg. The two would later be rival head coaches and friends in the AFC Central division, and Fisher has credited his injury at the hands of Cowher with having the unintended consequence of propelling him into coaching.

Cowher primarily played special teams during his playing career, and placed emphasis on special teams during his coaching career. Cowher credits being a "bubble player" during his playing career with influencing his coaching career, feeling that such players work the hardest for a roster spot (and sometimes still get cut, hence the term "bubble player"), and thus make better head coaches than those with successful playing careers.

Coaching career

Cowher began his coaching career in 1985 at age 28 under Marty Schottenheimer with the Cleveland Browns. He was the Browns' special teams coach in 1985-86 and secondary coach in 1987-88 before following Schottenheimer to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989 as defensive coordinator.

He became the 15th head coach in Steelers history when he succeeded Chuck Noll on January 21, 1992 - but only the second head coach since the NFL merger in 1970. Under Cowher, the Steelers showed an immediate improvement from the disappointing 7-9 season the year before, going 11-5 and earning home field advantage in the AFC after the Steelers had missed the playoffs six times out of the previous seven years. In 1995, at age 38, he became the youngest coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl. Cowher is only the second coach in NFL history to lead his team to the playoffs in each of his first six seasons as head coach, joining Pro Football Hall of Fame member Paul Brown.

In Cowher’s 15 seasons, the Steelers captured eight division titles, earned 10 postseason playoff berths, played in 21 playoff games, advanced to six AFC Championship games and made two Super Bowl appearances. He is one of only six coaches in NFL history to claim at least seven division titles. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, the Steelers had the best record of any team in the NFL since Cowher was hired as head coach.

On February 5, 2006, Cowher's Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL by defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10, giving Cowher his first Super Bowl ring. Through the Super Bowl, Cowher's team had compiled a record of 108-1-1 in games in which they built a lead of at least 11 points.

During the following season, there was talk about Cowher leaving the Steelers, ostensibly to spend more time with his family. On January 5, 2007, Cowher stepped down after 15 years at the helm of the franchise. The Steelers hired former Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin as Cowher's successor.

Cowher's record as a head coach is 149-90-1 (161-99-1 including playoff games).

After coaching

On February 15, 2007, he signed on to The NFL Today on CBS as a studio analyst, joining Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe, and Boomer Esiason.

In 2007, Cowher appeared in the ABC reality television series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, featuring a dozen celebrities in a stock car racing competition. Cowher matched up against Gabrielle Reece and William Shatner.

On March 4, 2008, Cowher responded to rumors concerning his coaching future by stating, "I'm not going anywhere." The rumors started after the Cowhers placed their Raleigh, North Carolina home on the market, but their intention was to build a new house two miles away.

Putting an end to numerous unfounded rumors of his return to coaching in the NFL in 2009, Cowher stated on The NFL Today that he did not plan to coach again in the immediate future.

In July of 2010, Cowher was the keynote speaker for National Agents Alliance at their Leadership Conference. He talked about work ethic, leadership and how that transfers into the work force. He said it's not about what you accomplish, it's about who you touch along the way.

Cowher had a part in the movie The Dark Knight Rises (2012), which was filmed at Heinz Field, the home of the Steelers, in downtown Pittsburgh. He played the head coach of the Gotham Rogues. After coaching he started reading 9th grade PIAA Gil's basketball

Coaching tree

Assistant coaches under Bill Cowher that became Head Coaches in the NFL:

• Dom Capers: Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans
• Chan Gailey: Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills
• Jim Haslett: New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams
• Mike Mularkey: Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Ken Whisenhunt: Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans
• Dick LeBeau: Cincinnati Bengals
• Marvin Lewis: Cincinnati Bengals
• Bruce Arians: Arizona Cardinals

Family

Bill Cowher's late wife, Kaye (née Young), also a North Carolina State University graduate, played professional basketball for the New York Stars of the (now defunct) Women's Pro Basketball League with her twin sister, Faye. Kaye was featured in the book Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981, by Karra Porter (University of Nebraska Press, 2006). Kaye Cowher died of skin cancer at age 54 on July 23, 2010.

Bill and Kaye have three daughters. Daughters Meagan and Lauren played basketball at Princeton University, and Lindsay played basketball at Wofford College before transferring to Elon University. In 2007, the Cowher family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina from suburban Pittsburgh. Meagan married NHL forward Kevin Westgarth of the Calgary Flames. Lindsay married NBA forward Ryan Kelly of the Los Angeles Lakers August 2, 2014.

Endorsements

Cowher was on the cover of EA Sports' 2006 video game NFL Head Coach. He appears in TV advertising for Time Warner Cable.

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
		Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
PIT	1992	11	5	0	.688	1st in AFC Central	0	1	.000
PIT	1993	9	7	0	.563	2nd in AFC Central	0	1	.000
PIT	1994	12	4	0	.750	1st in AFC Central	1	1	.500
PIT	1995	11	5	0	.688	1st in AFC Central	2	1	.667
PIT	1996	10	6	0	.625	1st in AFC Central	1	1	.500
PIT	1997	11	5	0	.688	1st in AFC Central	1	1	.500
PIT	1998	7	9	0	.438	3rd in AFC Central	-	-	-	-
PIT	1999	6	10	0	.375	4th in AFC Central	-	-	-	-
PIT	2000	9	7	0	.563	3rd in AFC Central	-	-	-	-
PIT	2001	13	3	0	.812	1st in AFC Central	1	1	.500
PIT	2002	10	5	1	.656	1st in AFC North	1	1	.500
PIT	2003	6	10	0	.375	3rd in AFC North	-	-	-	-
PIT	2004	15	1	0	.938	1st in AFC North	1	1	.500
PIT	2005	11	5	0	.688	2nd in AFC North	4	0	1.000
PIT	2006	8	8	0	.500	3rd in AFC North	-	-	-	-
PIT Total		149	90	1	.623		12	9	.571
Total		149	90	1	.623		12	9	.571

Coaching record vs. other teams

How the Steelers fared in games with Cowher as head coach.

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Win Pct.
Arizona Cardinals	2	1	0	0.667
Atlanta Falcons	3	1	1	0.700
Baltimore Ravens	13	9	0	0.591
Buffalo Bills	5	2	0	0.714
Carolina Panthers	3	1	0	0.750
Chicago Bears	3	1	0	0.750
Cincinnati Bengals	21	9	0	0.700
Cleveland Browns	19	5	0	0.792
Dallas Cowboys	1	2	0	0.333
Denver Broncos	1	3	0	0.250
Detroit Lions	4	1	0	0.800
Green Bay Packers	2	2	0	0.500
Houston Texans	1	1	0	0.500
Indianapolis Colts	4	1	0	0.800
Jacksonville Jaguars	8	10	0	0.444
Kansas City Chiefs	5	3	0	0.625
Miami Dolphins	5	2	0	0.714
Minnesota Vikings	2	2	0	0.500
New England Patriots	4	3	0	0.571
New Orleans Saints	2	1	0	0.667
New York Giants	2	1	0	0.667
New York Jets	4	1	0	0.800
Oakland Raiders	5	2	0	0.714
Philadelphia Eagles	2	2	0	0.500
St. Louis Rams	1	2	0	0.333
San Diego Chargers	7	2	0	0.778
San Francisco 49ers	1	3	0	0.250
Seattle Seahawks	2	4	0	0.333
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3	1	0	0.750
Tennessee Titans	11	12	0	0.478
Washington Redskins	3	0	0	1.000
Totals:	149	90	1	0.623

Note:

a For the purposes of calculating winning percentage ties are counted as ½ of a win and ½ of a loss

Coaching record vs. other teams (playoffs)

How the Steelers fared in playoff games with Cowher as head coach.

Team	Wins	Losses	Win Pct.
Baltimore Ravens	1	0	1.000
Buffalo Bills	1	1	0.500
Cincinnati Bengals	1	0	1.000
Cleveland Browns	2	0	1.000
Dallas Cowboys	0	1	0.000
Denver Broncos	1	1	0.500
Indianapolis Colts	3	0	1.000
Kansas City Chiefs	0	1	0.000
New England Patriots	1	3	0.250
New York Jets	1	0	1.000
San Diego Chargers	0	1	0.000
Seattle Seahawks	1	0	1.000
Tennessee Titans	0	1	0.000
Totals:	12	9	0.571

[ Source: Wikipedia ]