Giants never came calling with job for Cowher
SAN FRANCISCO — Bill Cowher had long been rumored to be the heir-apparent to Tom Coughlin. For years he was supposedly just biding his time at CBS until the Giants job opened up.
Then last month the Giants job was finally open. And Cowher didn’t talk to the Giants about it at all. So much for that rumor, which finally can be put to rest now that Ben McAdoo has replaced Coughlin and the 58-year-old Cowher is still working in the studio at CBS. Cowher said on Monday that the Giants never even reached out to gauge his interest in the opening after Coughlin stepped down after the season.
But that might not kill the rumor forever, since Cowher still can’t completely rule out that he’ll someday take another NFL head coaching job.
“You know what? I’ve never shut a door,” Cowher said at a press conference promoting CBS’ broadcast of Super Bowl 50. “I don’t think you need to shut a door that you don’t need to. I’m very happy at CBS. I love what I’m doing. I’m 58 years old. I feel young. I still feel involved in the game. But this element of the game gives me a life that I was never able to experience before.”
Cowher has been in the CBS studio since he wrapped up his 15-year stint as the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach after the 2006 season. And he seemed delighted at some of the perks of his job that are so drastically different from his old one. “I get offseasons,” he said. “I get to do things I wasn’t able to do before. So I’m enjoying it.” But … “I never say never,” Cowher said. “But I’m very, very satisfied with where I’m at.”
That has basically been Cowher’s answer since he was first linked to the Giants’ job when Coughlin was on the hot seat enter-
ing the 2007 season. The rumors picked up steam in 2010 when Coughlin was on the hot seat again and Jerome Bettis, Cowher’s former running back, said the Giants were “the team that (Cowher) really coveted. This is where he always wanted to be … and I think he’s holding out for that opportunity.”
Maybe he was, but when Coughlin was fired after the season, the Giants interviewed six candidates and did not approach the former Steelers coach. Asked if that was finally the end of this story, Cowher said “Oh, I don’t know about that.”
“Listen it’s flattering every year when it’s talked about,” he said. “But at the same time I really don’t follow it. I know where I’m at. I know what kind of peace I am at with myself. I love the game . ... But to be able to be a part of the game now from the standpoint of sitting back, analyzing, giving my opinions on things, is fun. And it’s enjoyable. It’s a different lifestyle and one I’m enjoying.”