Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and Crafton native Bill Cowher has a life full of accomplishments. He coached the Steelers for 15 seasons, leading them to two Super Bowls and winning one. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Since retiring from the Steelers, he has successfully carved out a second career as a studio analyst for CBS Sports.

On Friday, he had something new to cherish. Cowher received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Duquesne University and spoke to graduates of the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

“This is not about me. It’s about you,” Cowher said. “Think about what you’ve encountered in your time here at Duquesne: a worldwide pandemic, total social justice reform, uncertainty and unstable times in regard to our economy, and even world peace.

”You not only navigated your way through it, you did so with a focus and a sense of purpose.

“You made so many people in this room proud of your accomplishments. So when the opportunity presents itself, each of you say ‘thank you’ to all those who have encouraged you along the way to be where you are today. You now enter a world where so much is expected, a world where so much is needed. It’s called leadership.”

Indeed, in his remarks to the Duquesne graduates, Cowher talked about the rewards of leadership.

“Leadership requires courage and vision. Leadership requires the ability to communicate. It requires a willingness to listen, to learn, to adapt,” he said. “Leadership is hard work, but it’s also so rewarding — the satisfaction of seeing your vision come to life, seeing your team have success and the joy of sharing your gifts, your talents and your passion with others.”

Duquesne University President Ken Gormley told the beloved former coach that receiving an honorary degree was bigger than the Super Bowl. Whether Gormley was joking or not, Cowher agreed.

“When you think about my journey, a kid that grew up in Crafton and used to come down here and watch (coach) Red Manning and the Duquesne Dukes (basketball team). Mr. (Dan) Rooney went to school here. My dad (Laird) went to school here. Yeah, Duquesne has been a special place in my journey,” Cowher said. “Duquesne was a part of the fiber I grew up with, and this place is special. And it’s still special today.”

In an interview with the Tribune-Review, it wasn’t long before the subject turned to football. Cowher said Steelers fans should be very pleased with the way the 2023 draft turned out.

“They got a left tackle in the first round, then they got a defensive lineman — and they had to address that area because of the age that they have with Cam (Heyward) getting up there and (Larry) Ogunjobi getting up there.

“Obviously, with Joey Porter Jr. we all know the history with his father, so I think they did a great job in the draft. I think they’ve become competitive at a lot of positions, and that’s all you want to have with your football team is to create competition at every position.”

Cowher also said he thinks the Steelers have done a lot to help quarterback Kenny Pickett become more successful.

“I think Kenny Pickett in his second year will be more comfortable in the system,” he said. “I think what (the Steelers) have done is they’ve created depth, and they have quality leadership throughout the course of their team.”

When asked if he had given any thought to returning to coaching, Cowher laughed.

“No, no, no. I’ll coach these students today and talk about them moving forward.”

The 2,000 in attendance gave Cowher a rousing ovation when he was presented with his honorary doctorate.

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