PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers locked up coach Bill
Cowher through the 2005 season, signing him to a three-year
contract extension Thursday even though his team has missed the
playoffs the last three seasons.
The extension is worth about $7 million and raises Cowher's
average salary to about $3 million, the current going rate for NFL
coaches. Cowher will make $4.8 million over the next two seasons on
a deal he signed in 1998.
Cleveland Browns coach Butch Davis and New York Giants coach Jim
Fassel also recently signed contracts worth about $3 million per
season.
"I feel like the enthusiasm and the drive are still there, just
like the first year I came here," said Cowher, who is 91-64 in
nine seasons.
Cowher asked for the extension after coaching the Steelers to a
9-7 record last season, and the contract was worked out following
several months of talks between Cowher's new agent, Phil de
Picciotto, and Steelers vice president Art Rooney II.
"This allows the players to know that you are going to be
there," said Cowher, a Pittsburgh native. "That helps a lot.
Stability is big. Certainly, you have to be successful, but you
have to have success and stability."
Cowher wanted to sign the contract before training camp begins
Thursday.
"Obviously, I am ecstatic about everything," Cowher said.
"This is a place I would like to be for a long time."
Cowher's status seemed in doubt following the 1999 season, when
the Steelers went 6-10 and quarterback Kordell Stewart was benched.
But Cowher won a postseason power struggle with director of
football operations Tom Donahoe, who was allowed to resign and
later took a similar job with the Buffalo Bills.
Cowher thanked Steelers owner Dan Rooney for not losing
confidence in him, saying, "He has stuck with me through some
tough times and I am very appreciative of that. It is a very stable
organization."
The Steelers, who have had only two head coaches in 32 years,
rebounded from consecutive losing seasons to win nine of their
final 13 games last season following an 0-3 start.
This season, the Steelers will move into Heinz Field, the first
time in their 68-year history they will play in a stadium built
especially for them.
"This is an exciting time for our organization, having Bill's
contract extended and with the opening next month of our new
stadium," Dan Rooney said. "He is a terrific person in addition
to being an excellent football coach."
Cowher was selected as the NFL coach of the year after coaching
the Steelers to a turnaround 11-5 record and the top seed in the
AFC playoffs at age 35 in 1992. Cowher and four-time Super Bowl
champion Chuck Noll are the only Steelers head coaches since 1969.
The Steelers made the playoffs each of Cowher's first six
seasons as a head coach, reaching the Super Bowl in January 1996
before losing to the Dallas Cowboys 27-17. They reached the AFC
title game again during the 1997 season, but have not made the
playoffs since.
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Coach Bill Cowher was happy to get the contract signed before the start of training camp.
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