Bill Cowher will have to wait until after the season if he signs a contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
<TABLE id=inlinetable cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TH style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000">Wojciechowski's take</TH><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD width=184>
When he finally does step away, the Steelers should do something to recognize the coach with the league's longest tenure -- which is going on an amazing 15 years in a cutthroat business.
• For more of Wojciechowski's analysis, Click here.
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Cowher is signed through 2007, but this is the first time since the Steelers hired him in 1992 that he will go into a season with so few years remaining on his contract.
On Tuesday, the Steelers issued a statement from team president Art Rooney saying contract talks with the coach would be on hold until after this season.
"I remain optimistic and hopeful that we will be able to conclude a contract extension which will keep Bill coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers for many more years. However, we have all agreed that at this time we will continue those conversations after this season so that Bill's focus, and the focus of the entire organization can be on the excitement and challenge of defending the Super Bowl Championship," Rooney said in the statement.
On Monday, Cowher expressed disappointment with NBC analyst and former Steeler Jerome Bettis' comments that the Steelers coach would retire after this season.
During his network debut Sunday night, Bettis predicted Cowher's 15th season as the Steelers' coach might be his last now that the team has won a title.
"I really think this is the last year for coach Cowher in Pittsburgh," Bettis said. "I talked to him after the season was over and I really think he was really a different coach, a different guy."
Cowher said the two talked in March and haven't talked since, except in passing, and that Bettis might not feel that way today.
"I talked to Jerome about it and I was very disappointed in what he said, and he understands my position," Cowher said Monday. "I want to make sure he understood it, because I think a lot of people thought him and I have been speaking, and we haven't been speaking. That was one conversation we had and nothing confidential was given to him."
Cowher said before training camp began he has been, in his mind, on a year-to-year basis since the Steelers went 6-10 in 2003, even though they were 15-1 in 2004 and 11-5 last year before winning the Super Bowl.
"He [Bettis] has to understand, like anything, this has been a long year -- and it was last year -- but as you get closer to training camp, time has a way of refocusing people," Cowher said.
Adding to the speculation about Cowher's future is his recent purchase of a $2.5 million luxury home in Raleigh, N.C., where he and wife Kaye attended North Carolina State. Kaye Cowher and the couple's youngest daughter apparently plan to live there this season, the first time Cowher has been separated from his family during a season.
"There's been a lot of speculation about my future, but I'm here to say once again that it's purely that -- speculation," Cowher said. "I don't like talking about the contract because we're in camp. I love coaching football, I love coaching here and there's been a lot of speculation, and I'm going to leave it at that."
Cowher said he won't discuss the contract issue again. He and the Steelers apparently have decided there will be no more contract discussions until the season ends.
"I can't control the future -- again, that takes two sides, but I do have two years left on my contract, contrary to what some people think," he said. "And that's all I want to talk about it. I've been very focused on getting this football team back this year, and that's where my focus is. I don't like talking about anything other than that, anything personal, because really it's about our football team. Contract situations and all those other things, they take care of themselves."
<TABLE id=inlinetable cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TH style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000">Wojciechowski's take</TH><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD width=184>
• For more of Wojciechowski's analysis, Click here.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Cowher is signed through 2007, but this is the first time since the Steelers hired him in 1992 that he will go into a season with so few years remaining on his contract.
On Tuesday, the Steelers issued a statement from team president Art Rooney saying contract talks with the coach would be on hold until after this season.
"I remain optimistic and hopeful that we will be able to conclude a contract extension which will keep Bill coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers for many more years. However, we have all agreed that at this time we will continue those conversations after this season so that Bill's focus, and the focus of the entire organization can be on the excitement and challenge of defending the Super Bowl Championship," Rooney said in the statement.
On Monday, Cowher expressed disappointment with NBC analyst and former Steeler Jerome Bettis' comments that the Steelers coach would retire after this season.
During his network debut Sunday night, Bettis predicted Cowher's 15th season as the Steelers' coach might be his last now that the team has won a title.
"I really think this is the last year for coach Cowher in Pittsburgh," Bettis said. "I talked to him after the season was over and I really think he was really a different coach, a different guy."
Cowher said the two talked in March and haven't talked since, except in passing, and that Bettis might not feel that way today.
"I talked to Jerome about it and I was very disappointed in what he said, and he understands my position," Cowher said Monday. "I want to make sure he understood it, because I think a lot of people thought him and I have been speaking, and we haven't been speaking. That was one conversation we had and nothing confidential was given to him."
Cowher said before training camp began he has been, in his mind, on a year-to-year basis since the Steelers went 6-10 in 2003, even though they were 15-1 in 2004 and 11-5 last year before winning the Super Bowl.
"He [Bettis] has to understand, like anything, this has been a long year -- and it was last year -- but as you get closer to training camp, time has a way of refocusing people," Cowher said.
Adding to the speculation about Cowher's future is his recent purchase of a $2.5 million luxury home in Raleigh, N.C., where he and wife Kaye attended North Carolina State. Kaye Cowher and the couple's youngest daughter apparently plan to live there this season, the first time Cowher has been separated from his family during a season.
"There's been a lot of speculation about my future, but I'm here to say once again that it's purely that -- speculation," Cowher said. "I don't like talking about the contract because we're in camp. I love coaching football, I love coaching here and there's been a lot of speculation, and I'm going to leave it at that."
Cowher said he won't discuss the contract issue again. He and the Steelers apparently have decided there will be no more contract discussions until the season ends.
"I can't control the future -- again, that takes two sides, but I do have two years left on my contract, contrary to what some people think," he said. "And that's all I want to talk about it. I've been very focused on getting this football team back this year, and that's where my focus is. I don't like talking about anything other than that, anything personal, because really it's about our football team. Contract situations and all those other things, they take care of themselves."
