For Greater Glory
Cowher Motivated To Be Among NFL's Best
By Jerry DiPaola

His back arched behind him and his knees buckled slightly as he raised his arms in triumph. A smile, then a bright glow, and what appeared to be uproarious laughter engulfed his face.

The joke no longer was on Bill Cowher.

That was the scene at Ford Field six months ago when the Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks and Cowher, finally, had his Super Bowl championship.

This title turned out to be a difficult birth, coming after five agonizing defeats in four AFC Championship games and one previous Super Bowl. It came after a long road in which the Steelers ventured away from Heinz Field for the better part of two months to earn a playoff berth and run through the postseason undefeated.

In the end, Cowher had to be a big weary and he hinted to close friends and Jerome Bettis, apparently, that continuing to coach into his 50s and spending even more time away from his family was not in his grand plan.

So, with retirement on the mind (even if it was in the deepest, darkest recesses), Cowher embarked on another off-season, including long draft preparations, a series of coaching sessions and the fear that swelled inside him when his best chance for another championship-quarterback Ben Roethlisberger-almost died in a motorcycle accident. Then came his 28th training camp as an NFL player or coach (not counting the eight that preceded them at Carlynton High School and North Carolina State) and the challenge of defending a championship in a league and conference full of good teams.

Why put himself through the pressure again? Especially with two of his daughters at Princeton University in New Jersey and his youngest daughter and wife Kaye even farther away in Raleigh, N.C., living in the family's new $2.5 million home?

Immortality will be his after he retires when he will be strongly considered for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But that's not enough. Cowher remains motivated by the opportunity to approach-if not surpass-what the greatest coaches of all time have accomplished: Winning multiple Super Bowls.

It's why he returned this season. It's why he scowled and cursed when his players got sloppy at practice at St. Vincent College and lost their first two exhibition games. Winning one championship does not truly fulfill the great ones, and Cowher certainly fits that description.

And the best part of it from the organization's perspective is that attitude has been passed onto his players - another trait of coaching excellence.

Roethlisberger had every reason to coast through the first weeks of camp, considering the seriousness of his facial and head injuries. He did not. Roethlisberger practiced every day-even participated in the run test at the outset of camp-and was ready and eager to play in the first preseason game.

Joey Porter was angry about his contract when he discovered that 19 NFL linebackers make more money than he did. But Porter had a conversation with Cowher, who convinced him not to hold out of camp.

The goal for the Steelers is to win another Super Bowl and etch their names in history as one of the great teams of all-time. Cowher saw Bill Belichick, a coaching rival for many years in the AFC, do it with the New England Patriots. Cowher wants to do it, too, and have NFL historians mention both he and Belichick in the same breath.

But after this year-after another quest either succeeds or fails-what then?

Bottom line: He has lived at a head coach's hectic pace since 1992, and everyone knows that's about five seasons beyond what is good for a man's mental and physical health. So, don't expect to see Cowher in the NFL, unless it's to sit with some network broadcast crew.

Cowher is motivated to coach another winning team in 2006, but not to sign a contract beyond this season.

Contract extension talks went nowhere this summer, and Cowher and the Steelers decided to shut them down and concentrate on football until the team's final game. Even team chairman Dan Rooney said he wasn't sure how long Cowher wanted to remain his coach.

It's not about the money, because Cowher already has more than he can spend. It's about a want and need to relax and spend more time with the people he sees too little of while he coaches the Steelers.

But talk of his possible retirement bothers Cowher - as well it should. A lame-duck coach might lose his team, and Cowher doesn't want that perception growing around him. So, he hid behind his privacy when he was asked about the future and why he did not sign an extension with two years left on his deal. After all, he had done so repeatedly at the same juncture many times previously during his Steelers career.

"Let me just say this: I just don't think it's really pertinent about my personal life," Cowher said on the second day of training camp, hoping to put the speculation and rumors to rest.

"I think the fact of the matter is, I'm up here, I'm coaching. For me to sit here and talk about my personal life, I think, would be inappropriate, I really do."

Then, he asserted as only he can do, "It's not going to affect my job at all. That's the bottom line."

No one expects Cowher to give less than his best effort to keep the team motivated and successful. There have been no indications of him pulling up the reins on himself and slowing down his workday. There has been no change to his coaching demeanor, especially at practice when he sees something he doesn't like.

But if the Steelers open the season by losing two of three games to the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals, the questions will surface as surely as the sun rises in the morning.

Has Cowher lost his desire to coach?

Is he thinking more about his family and retirement than he is about the team?

Would the Steelers have been better off with another coach this season - one who never has won a Super Bowl, one such as Cowher used to be?

Those are the questions Cowher hates. Those are the questions he doesn't want to hear. Yes, the Steelers and their coach are motivated by the chance to put themselves up among the great teams of all time.

But Cowher knows he needs time to recharge. He knows he would be a hot ticket in the open market after a year or two off.

He has it all - a shot at greatness, the means to be unemployed for as long as he wants and a track record that could get him another, higher-paying job if that is what he desires.

Building on such a reputation is motivation enough for any coach.

NFL Editor Jerry DiPaola is also an assistant editor for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.