With extra year to reflect, ex-Steelers coach Bill Cowher ready for time in Hall of Fame spotlight

Something felt refreshingly familiar to Bill Cowher as he prepared to talk to the media about his upcoming Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.

He noted it was a Tuesday, the day of the week he used to conduct news conferences during his 15 years as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach.

It was just one of several trips in the time machine Cowher will take on the road to being enshrined Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio.

Another will occur two days before the ceremony when Cowher will stand on the Steelers sideline for the Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys. Standing on the opposite side will be Jimmy Johnson, the other coaching member of the 20-member centennial class.

“I’ll let Jimmy call one play. Let me call one blitz,” Cowher said, laughing. “I just want one blitz. I’ll have Dick LeBeau with me. … We’ll call one blitz in the game, and we’ll see if we can get Mike (Tomlin) to run one.”

The Hall of Fame Game not only kicks off the NFL preseason, it is the start of four days of festivities that includes a gold jacket ceremony Aug. 6, the 2020 centennial class induction that was postponed a year because of the pandemic, and the 2021 enshrinement ceremony Aug. 8.

Cowher has known since January 2020 that he is among a class that includes former Steelers safeties Troy Polamalu and Donnie Shell. This year, the Steelers contingent was expanded to five with the election of late scout Bill Nunn as a contributor and guard Alan Faneca as a modern candidate.

“I think it’s going to be a special weekend,” Cowher said, “and the fact that the Cowboys are playing the Steelers on Thursday and Jimmy also going in right there, so we’ll be on the sidelines for the Thursday game.

“It will be a great way to kick off this 2021 season and certainly Saturday will be a special day as will Sunday.”

The postponement of the 2020 ceremony gave Cowher an extra year to prepare for his Hall of Fame experience. He announced last summer that Steelers president Art Rooney II will give his induction presentation speech. Now, with the big moment just weeks away, Cowher has gotten more introspective about what the honor means to him.

“You realize when you go through this is that all the people that were part of the process that allowed you to have that success,” he said. “For me to be able to be enshrined is the culmination of a lot of work from a lot of people, support staff, players and coaches, family and friends that were there along the way. I think as we get closer and all these fall into place, I just want to enjoy it. I really just want to soak it up, have a chance to spend time with the guys I haven’t seen, players, some of the coaches I have not seen.”

Since exiting the Steelers after the 2006 season with one Super Bowl championship, two appearances and 149 regular-season wins on his resume, Cowher has resisted the temptation to return to coaching. He is 64 years old and is entering his 15th season — the same number of years he spent on the Steelers sideline — as a studio analyst with CBS.

He admitted Tuesday the coaching itch still exists but not enough to give up the “balance” that exists in his life.

“I always missed strategizing. I missed the camaraderie you have with the players and coaches,” he said. “I love the buildup to a game, the instantaneous result you get. You win, you lost and then you have to move onto the next game. … I love that element of it. I miss the game on Sundays. I miss the practices. I don’t miss the lifestyle.

“I enjoy the guys I work with. I love talking about games on Sundays. When the season is over, I now have time to do other things that you cannot do when you’re coaching. It’s pretty much a full-time job other than three to four weeks you get off in the summer. I have so much more balance in my life than I ever had. I don’t think I’ve ever come close to going back.”

And as much as Cowher emphasized that he is not a fan of any “particular NFL team,” he still perhaps follows the Steelers more closely than the other 31 in the NFL.

He is particularly interested to see how Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback the Cowher-led Steelers drafted in the first round in 2004, will play in his 18th season at age 39. Cowher doesn’t believe the criticism he has heard that Roethlisberger, who struggled down the stretch as the Steelers lost five of their final six games (including playoffs), is washed up.

“I’m sure he’s just thriving now on the fact that everyone thinks he’s done or the Steelers are done,” Cowher said. “I always said one of the best things in sports is to do something that nobody believes you can do. It’s one of the greatest accomplishments. I think right now Ben is thriving on that. He can’t wait to get out there and is champing at the bit to prove it. I’d be very surprised if he didn’t have a great year this year.”