Super Bowl-winning Head Coach Bill Cowher was surprisingly inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday. Here’s why the Steelers coach is deserving of this honor.
There aren’t many franchises who can boast about the success of their coaching staff like the Pittsburgh Steelers. After Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll governed Pittsburgh’s football team from 1969 to 1991, Bill Cowher had some pretty big shoes to fill when he walked through the door in 1992.
Those shoes were filled on Saturday night. In an unpredictable way, the now CBS Sports analyst was granted an incredible honor on live television: He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here’s a recap of the historic moment:
The newest member of the @ProFootballHOF: Bill Cowher.
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) January 12, 2020
Congratulations, @CowherCBS! #PFHOF20 pic.twitter.com/s5f1gXuDfO
Cowher joins elite company as his name now rests in Canton with some of the all-time great NFL coaches. Through the 90’s and into the 2000’s, Cowher was one of the most successful head coaches.
His coaching career started with a bang. Chuck Noll’s career finished with 8 straight seasons without double-digit wins, but that immediately changed when Coach Cowher walked through the door.
In his first season as head coach of the Steelers in 1992, Cowher’s team finished 11-5 and appeared in a playoff game. Over his first 6 seasons, Pittsburgh had 6 winning records, made the playoffs all 6 times, won the division 5 times, and won 5 playoff games.
After a three-season drought without a playoff appearance from 1998 to 2000, Cowher finished the back-half of his coaching career with a bang – winning 7 playoff games in his last 6 seasons and leading his team to a Super Bowl win in 2005.
Cowher’s career as a head coach was nothing short of spectacular, and his 149-90-1 coaching record is one that most head coaches can only dream of. It’s hard to imagine many other coaches making as good of use out of their 15 years with a single franchise.
After his induction into the Hall of Fame, Cowher will have a chance to be part of something special in 2020. Two players that he drafted and helped him win a Super Bowl are semifinalists for the Hall of Fame this year and could be joining him in Canton: Troy Polamalu and Alan Faneca.
Faneca has been on the doorstep of getting into the Hall of Fame for five years now, and he could have a tough time earning a jacket yet again in a loaded class of candidates. Polamalu, on the other hand, just became eligible and is looking to join his former head coach as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Regardless of which former players will join him in Canton, it’s impossible to take anything away from the job Coach Cowher has done during his tenure in Pittsburgh. He will forever be remembered as one of the greatest coaches in football history, and his Hall of Fame induction is the proof.