Bill Cowher is a former head coach in the NFL. Cowher resigned after 15 seasons as the Pittsburgh Steelers' coach in January 2007, 11 months to the day after winning 2005–06's Super Bowl XL. He currently is a studio analyst for The NFL Today. He began his NFL career as a free-agent linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1979, then signed with the Cleveland Browns the following year. Cowher played three seasons (1980–82) in Cleveland before being traded back to the Eagles, where he played two more years (1983–84). His tenure in Philadelphia included tackling a young Jeff Fisher (who later became the head coach of the Tennessee Titans) when playing against the Chicago Bears, causing Fisher to break his leg and prematurely ending his playing career. The two would later be rival head coaches and friends in the AFC Central, and Fisher has credited his injury at the hands of Cowher for having the unintended consequence of getting him into coaching. Cowher primarily played special teams during his playing career, and placed emphasis on special teams during his coaching career. Cowher credits being a bubble player" during his playing career to influence him on his coaching career, feeling that such players work the hardest for a roster spot (and sometimes still get cut, hence the term "bubble player"), and thus make better head coaches than those with successful playing careers. Cowher began his coaching career in 1985 at age 28 under Marty Schottenheimer with the Cleveland Browns. He became the fifteenth head coach in Steelers history when he succeeded Chuck Noll in 1992. Under Cowher, the Steelers showed an immediate improvement from the disappointing season the year before, earning home field advantage in the AFC after the Steelers had missed the playoffs six times out of the previous seven years. In 1995, at age 38, he became the youngest coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl. In Cowher’s 15 seasons, the Steelers captured eight division titles, earned ten postseason playoff berths, played in 21 playoff games, advanced to six AFC Championship games, and made two Super Bowl appearances. He is one of only six coaches in NFL history to claim at least seven division titles. Cowher's record as a head coach is 149–90–1, and 161–99–1 including playoff games. In 2007, he signed on with The NFL Today on CBS as a studio analyst, joining Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe, and Boomer Esiason."
