Bill Cowher (William Laird Cowher) is an American Football Coach and Linebacker who played in National Football League(NFL). Bill Cowher began his NFL career as a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1979. Eventually, he started his coaching career at age 28 as an assistant under Marty Schottenheimer for the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City.
Table of Biography
Early life
Bill Cowher was born on May 8th of 1957, in Crafton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Likewise, he is 64 years old. He was born to parents Laird Cowher and Dorothy Cowher. Cowher excelled in football, basketball, and track when he was in Carlynton High. Bill mostly played football and basketball in his school days.
He attended North Carlina State University for higher studies where he also played as a linebacker. Bill was a starting linebacker and also a captain of the university football team. He also won Most Valuable Player(MVP) in his senior year. In 1979, Bill got his Bachelor’s degree in Education.
Professional Life
Bill Cowher began his NFL career as a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1979. He signed with Cleveland Browns the following year. After three seasons with the Browns, he was traded back to the Eagles where he played for two seasons. During his stint in Eagles, he broke the leg of Jeff Fisher which propelled Fisher into retiring and starting coaching.
Cowher started his coaching career at age 28 as an assistant under famous Coach Marty Schottenheimer for the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City. Cowher also took less pay to take a coaching position than what he would have made with the Eagles in 1985 as he saw his future more in coaching. He was a special coach for the Browns in 1985-86 and a Secondary Coach in 1987-88. In 1989, he was a defensive coordinator for Kansas City Chiefs.
Headcoach of Pittsburgh Steelers
He was appointed as Head Coach for Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992. Under his leadership, the performance of the improved and reached new heights as Pittsburgh Steelers made the playoffs after missing it for six years. Cowher became the youngest coach to win the Superbowl in 1995. Bill worked as Head Coach of Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 seasons.
During his tenure, the team captured eight division titles, earned 10 playoffs season berths, played in 21 playoff games, advanced to six AFC Championship games, and two Super Bowl appearances. He became one of the six coaches in the history of the NFL to hold at least seven division titles. On February 5 of 2006, Pittsburgh Steelers defeated Seattle Seahawks to claim the Super Bowl. He resigned from the Pittsburgh Steelers after 15 long seasons.
He signed to The NFL Today as a studio analyst on February 5, 2007. In July 2010, Cowher became a key speaker for the ‘National Agents Alliance’ at their leadership conference. He also appeared in the movie The Dark Knight Rises as head coach of the football team. Bill was told live on CBS that he was being inducted into the Pro Hall of Fame by president David Baker on January 11, 2020.
Caption: Bill listening to the player Source: TSN
Personal Life
Bill fell in love and married his first wife Kaye Young who was also a North Carolina Graduate in 1981. Kaye Young played professional basketball for New York Stars(now defunct) in the Women’s Pro Basketball League with her twin sister Faye. Kaye is featured in the book Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women’s Professional Basketball League, 1978–1981, by Karra Porter. On July 23, 2010, Kaye Young died of skin cancer at the age of 54. The couple share three daughters together- Meagan, Lauren, and Lindsay.
All three of them played basketball. Meagan and Lauren played basketball for Princeton University while Lindsay played basketball for Wofford College before she transferred to Elon University. The Cowher Family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina from the Pittsburgh Suburb of Fox Chapel in 2007. His daughter Meagan married former NHL forward Kevin Westgarth in 2011. The youngest daughter Lindsay married former NBA player Ryan Kelly on August 2, 2014.
Bill married his second wife Veronica Stigeler in 2014. They don’t have any children. In 2018, Cowher announced he would put his house in Raleigh for sale and move to New York full-time. In 2021, he co-authored an autobiography called Heart and Steel. He talks about his journey from player to coach, analyst, and losing his other wife in an interview with NFL legends.
Caption: Bill with his wife Veronica at the event Source: Bleacher Report
Body Measurement
He has brown hair. His eyes are of blue color. He stands at the height of 6ft 4 and weighs around 102kg.
Social Media and Networth
Bill is active on Twitter where he has 108k followers. He has an Instagram account called a bill.cowher with 1.1k followers. Bill does not post much on the app. He is not active on any other social platform.
Bill earned most of his earnings from his professional career as a linebacker, coach, and analyst. He had various endorsement deals as he was on the cover of EA’s sports video game NFL Head Coach. Bill also appeared in Tv advertising for Time Warner Cable. He also voiced in Madden NFL 19. His net worth is around $18 million as of 2022.
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