New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers

Bill Cowher is rumored to be interested in Jets head coaching job

Will Bill Cowher come out of retirement to coach the Jets.

The surest thing one can say about the 0-12 New York Jets is that head coach Adam Gase will not be back with the team next season. Given their draft capital, the Jets opening could be quite an enticing job for several first-time coaches.

However, in a shocking twist, the Jets might decide to throw convention to the wind and hire 63-year-old Bill Cowher, the former Pittsburgh Steelers coach who has been an analyst with CBS for the last decade.

Former Bengals quarterback and WFAN radio host Boomer Esiason claims that Cowher, who hasn’t coached in the NFL since 2006, has an interest in coaching the Jets, with Esiason noting that his wife is a huge Jets fan.

Bill Cowher has worked on TV after retiring from coaching

After getting his big break as a defensive coordinator under Marty Schottenheimer’s Kansas City Chiefs, Cowher was named Chuck Noll’s successor as head coach of the Steelers.

While Cowher’s teams were often personified by a powerful, run-heavy offense and elite defenses that became the launching pad for several Hall of Fame players, Cowher’s teams often disappointed in the postseason.

Cowher finally put it all together in 2005, when he and Ben Roethlisberger took down the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. Cowher, who has a 149-90-1 record as a head coach was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.

The Jets are not only 0-12, but they are led by a coach in Gase that has been frequently criticized for a lack of schematic creativity and accountability. The fiery Cowher would walk into that locker room and instantly get this bunch straightened out, as he was able to make some disappointing teams at the end of Noll’s reign playoff regulars almost instantly.

If the Jets hypothetically bring him out of retirement, it would certainly qualify as risky. For every Dick Vermeil that has success after an extended retirement, there is a Bud Wilkinson who falls on his face. Still, when faced with the possibility of a neophyte head coach or one who has been to two Super Bowls and is in the Hall of Fame, the Jets just might hire Cowher.

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